Dive! Dive! Dive!
by Captain Smollett
Summary: Only days after the USS Pearl sets sail from Guam. Its crew are drawn into a struggle that could determine the future of humanity.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Warning! Warning! Multiple hull breeches detected. The intercom was yelling as lights began flashing throughout the submarine.

"Captain, I have flooding aft in the forward torpedo room!"

"Captain, flooding detected in the engine room!"

The room was in disarray, they were trapped 500 feet below the surface. People were running around trying to save their submarine. There was a chance that people had died already.

The Captain knew he had messed up. Doors were being sealed and the bilge pumps were working, pumping out water as fast as it came in. They needed to act fast and act fast they did.

"Emergency blow!" The Captain yelled as everyone held on for dear life. The submarine shot up until it breached the surface before jumping up like a whale. It seemed that for a second everything was calm only for it to get much, much worse. That was until a special light began flashing on the Captain's monitor. Each light indicated a problem and well this light was special, it was nuclear.

"Fuck! Captain we've lost all coolant to the reactor. We need to act now or else were gonna have a meltdown!" The Chief Nuclear Engineer yelled at the top of his lungs.

Thoughts raced through his mind, he wanted to live, but how? If the submarine had a meltdown then everyone was dead no matter what. There was only one thing they could do, and it wasn't gonna be pretty.

"I can only think of one option and it's not pretty!" The Captain yelled at the engineer, fear in both their eyes.

"Sir I'll do whatever it takes!" He responded, he was brave but behind that was just a young scared boy.

"K19 it!" The Captain ordered before receiving a salute, the engineer dashed into the nuclear compartment with his division. They wouldn't be coming back alive, that he was sure of. All he could do now was keep the submarine afloat and pray.

"Sit down son!" An old man said gesturing toward a chair. Jack was in Guam and he was about to get the news he had been waiting for.

"Yes sir!"

"Do you find it odd that I had you flown from your academy in Seattle to Guam?" The old man asked, stars clearly visible on his shoulders. His chest covered in medals and ribbons from years past.

They were both in military uniform, one a 16-year-old boy freshly into the USHSF Submariner Academy. The other, an old man who had seen war and used it to his advantage. Climbing the ranks until reaching the position of admiral, he was now in charge of the entire pacific fleet of the United States of America.

"Sir, respectfully I don't understand why I was flown away from the rest of the school to this little island in the pacific." Jack responded, this was his first year of Submariner school yet instead of training with the school like was done he was flown out to a naval base.

The room was well lit and the building was beautiful, he had just landed an hour ago and while he was exhausted he didn't have time to sleep. His belongings were taken from him and moved somewhere. It was hot, terribly hot and humid as a jungle. What more could you expect from the Pacific, the home of the world's largest ocean which hid secrets mankind had only begun to understand.

"Well you see Jack, your special. As I'm sure you know each year a select group is given a basic nuclear submarine, typically a Nautilus. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir! Am I receiving a Nautilus?" A smile grew on Jack's face, he dreamed of being on a nuclear submarine.

"No." The smile instantly vanished, and the admiral began to chuckle, the wrinkles on his old face showing.

"Your receiving a new submarine, a Skate Class to be exact." Jack's smile instantly shot back up causing the Admiral to chuckle once again. He would be receiving an improved version of the Nautilus, something he was extremely happy about.

He thought he might be assigned to something like a diesel submarine. They were typically cramped, hot, and smelled terrible but you had to suck it up.

"Thank you so much sir although why am I out here?" His voice was excited as hell, but he tried to keep some decent composure, he was in the company of an admiral after all.

"Well you and your crew are receiving special orders for a joint training exercise."

"Joint training exercise, between who?"

"You will be training with the Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School." The Admiral continued on his normal calm while Jack raised an eye brow. He had heard about them, they were the main Japanese school in charge of creating new 'Blue Mermaids'. A force of woman who patrolled the ocean and kept the seas safe.

After tectonic plates shifted and caused many parts of the world to submerge cities had been built floating which caused a need for maritime protection. From this Japan rose up and became one of the world's leading maritime powers, militarily and economically.

The US still reigned supreme in most of the world and he wasn't in a submariner school to join some over-glorified coast guard, he was gonna be a navy man.

"Understood sir, where and when do I head out?"

"You head out in a few hours; your crew will be waiting on the submarine for you. Regarding orders you shall receive them in a package found in your room along with a few other items. Your bags will be there as well including your new uniform, Captain!" Other items, what did he mean by this? Jack wasn't sure but he couldn't wait to find out.

"Understood! By the way what is the name of the submarine I'm taking?" While he knew the class and had a pretty good guess he wanted to make sure everything was clear.

"You are taking a modified Skate class, USS Pearl!" He said before standing up and walking towards the door.

"Yes sir!"

"Dismissed!" The admiral said as Jack snapped off a salute before walking out. It truly was hot on this little island, how it hadn't sunk when most of the islands around it evaded him.

He was carrying a small packet with him regarding a few facts on the submarine and his crew. While he might of known some of the people with him submariner school was massive with thousands of people. He would never know them all but the select few that served with him now would have a chance to join the service with their captain.

That single word; captain, made him feel fuzzy inside. He was in charge of a Nuclear Submarine for God's sake! He would command others on operations across the world and in his mind this was the best way to do so. He had plans, retire a Captain before getting married and moving on. He wasn't sure what to do about college considering he was going to be in the navy. They would pay for it but he needed to pick a subject and school first.

His stomach started to grumble, he hadn't eaten anything for a few hours and it was starting to be lunch. He looked around and noticed this one Navy restaurant next to the port. He figured he could just eat, review his small packet and then go find the USS Pearl.

As soon as he walked in he was greeted with a barrage of different smells. Sailors and marines were sitting everywhere eating and talking about a variety of different subjects.

Jack quickly walked to the nearest little restaurant and got himself a small Italian sub. His uniform was an exact copy of the dark blue submariner with only a small patch on the side denoting him as a student and without a ship assignment.

As he sat down he opened up the package and was greeted with a few papers showing his submarine and its contents.

 _ **USS Black Pearl**_

 _ **Modified for School use**_

 _Type: Nuclear Submarine_

 _Displacement: 2,894 Tons_

 _Length:267 ft_

 _Beam: 25 ft_

 _Draft: 21 ft_

 _Propulsion: S4W Reactor_

 _Speed: Surfaced 15.5 knots, Submerged 22 knots_

 _Crush Depth: 950 ft_

 _Sensors: BQQ-2, ESM mast, Periscope_

 _Crew Size: 35, 8 Officers, 27 Enlisted_

 _Armament: 8x21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 2 aft) 30 Mk 37 Torpedoes_

He read through everything and looked over it again. The original version of the Skate class didn't have an ESM mast but the school deemed it as needed so hey, he wasn't complaining.

Only a crew of 35 though, was he running a skeleton crew or something? His crew would definitely be working hard, he had so many things to think about including the fact that in a nuclear submarine most of your time would be spent underwater. He wouldn't get to see the sun too often but he was prepared, mentally and psychically for this.

He kept reading through until he got to the thing he really wanted to find, the crew list. He hoped he was at least familiar with a few members of the crew.

 _Captain Jack Cutter_

 _XO Lieutenant Robert Ellis_

 _COB Command Master Chief Petty Officer David Halsey_

 _Chief Navigator Lieutenant Junior Grade Steven Thompson_

 _Independent Duty Corpsman Lieutenant Junior Grade David Adler_

 _Sonar Technician Lieutenant Junior Grade Mark Carson_

 _ET-Comm Petty Officer First Class George Brady_

 _Pilot Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicholas Fletcher_

 _Chief Nuclear Technician Lieutenant Junior Grade Scotty Cooper_

 _Weapons Officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Jake Ackerson_

The list went on for another 21 names before coming to an abrupt halt. As he skimmed over he recognized a few names while others he had never heard off in his life.

He had met his XO on a few occasions, they both grew up in different towns outside of Seattle and had met each other when their schools competed in different sports.

Other than that he only knew his pilot and Chief Nuclear Technician, the later hailing from Scotland and having a distinct accent denoting so. Oh how Jack couldn't wait to say that famous line from Star Trek, one of his favorite TV shows. The man was a damn genius and knew everything there was to know about anything nuclear.

They had all been taught the basics of fission and such other things on the submarines they had been on as part of their training but that man was something else.

He noticed all their ages, most of them were 16. He could guarantee that If you told someone 30 years ago that 16-year old's would be in charge of battleships, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines that they would have sent him to a mental ward but here they were.

Funny how a massive disaster like the tectonic plate changes could affect a society and their culture so drastically in such a small amount of time.

Either way he couldn't wait to meet his crew. He hoped they would all get along just fine considering where most of the people were from. While most were from the States you had a few like Scotty, who were international.

Most people in this day and age weren't prejudiced or anything and considering that for some reason they were an all-white crew he didn't figure there would be any problems.

After going through a few more pages regarding the submarine including they layout and general drawings of the equipment being used including an essay on the Mk 37 torpedo he was finished.

There was a thing about using the Mk 37 torpedo that sort of felt knew to him. They all knew how to use torpedoes but only the nuclear ones would get something that equipped passive and active sonar so he only had two classes teaching about it.

He also noticed one small thing on the bottom of one page. There was a patch with the USS Skate sown into it along with skull and crossbones above with your stereotypical pirate hat. Even though his submarine wasn't the skate it was of the same class and identical in look. The patch was pretty dark and he guessed that in calling the sub the pearl they were trying to nail the fictional Black Pearl. Below was the motto _Take her fast, take her deep, take her where the fishes sleep_.

He chucked slightly when he saw this. It was completely true as he would want the submarine to be deep, fast, and never be seen. It was the way a true submarine battle should be fought with no one being seen.

The submarines would also run silent when ordered to which meant that all non-essential equipment was turned off and the crew wouldn't talk. This would decrease how loud the submarine was and hopefully help them sneak up or run away from someone.

Your passive sonar would be used to detect noises heard through the water. A person can hear much higher and lower pitched noises underwater and special equipment could do so at a much higher frequency. Now your active sonar sends out a wave in the form of sound and when it hits an object it deflects back. You could calculate the distance of a target from you and therefore its speed and trajectory giving you a shooting solution.

The sounds heard from active sonar are almost always distinct and a well-trained sonar technician could tell the difference between another submarine, ship, whale, or even a rock outcrop. The main problem with active sonar was that since it uses sound it can be heard and tracked, effectively giving your position away.

Your ESM mast would be raised to intercept any radio signals and could give an accurate location on where that signal came from. The problem was that you needed to go to periscope depth to do so and it could be detected by radar.

The submarine had many sensors and he had been told that the commanders of nuclear submarines were given a few more bonuses. There was more room in the submarine, everyone got their own bunks with a small light although it was relatively small. Nicer food was given and the cook typically was skilled, unless you got on his bad side your food was good. The best thing in his opinion was that the submarine was integrated with a few aspects of modern technology such as a headset for every chief technician so they could communicate and an iPad. This iPad displayed information to the system it was connected to making everyone's lives easier and more mobile. A Captain could know what course they were at without needing to talk to the navigator as he would update it constantly.

Soon he had finished his sub and got up to find his submarine. He walked until he made it to the administrative office in charge of the ships positions. Jack found a short man who seemed to be typing away furiously on a computer, probably for a report.

Jack snapped to a salute as he opened his mouth to speak; "Hello sir, I'm Captain Jack Cutter of the USS Pearl."

"Well hello! Look I don't have much time so let's make this quick, are you looking for your ship?" The man hadn't even looked up from his computer as he responded.

"Yes sir!"

"Alright head to submarine dock 6, it's about five minutes away from here!" He said as he quickly took out a map and handed it to the boy who took it before he rushed out of the room. He didn't want to bother that guy any more than he had too.

He walked through the port and looked at all the ships, destroyers and frigates mainly with one submarine. As he walked past it he continually stared at it, a Virginia Class!

It was so sleek and beautiful, stealthy and equipped with the most advanced technology in the world. He would never want to fight against one as he knew he would get taken out before he knew it was even there. Oh how one day he hoped to be a Captain of one of those, hell maybe even a new class if everything went well.

Eventually though he did see his submarine, its gray, black, and red colors over the sub. A flag with the submarine insignia was flying above and he had to admit it looked cool but other than that there was nothing.

The submarine was still beautiful and while it didn't have the teardrop hull like modern submarines it was still faster underwater.

He could see the rudder just poking at the calm, blue, surface of the water. The two bow planes tucked up so as not to hit the wall. They would be lowered into their normal positions right after they got into some decently open water. They would be taken out by tugboats until they could sufficiently maneuver and head into the open ocean.

The masts weren't completely lowered so he glanced over the list to identify what was what. He quickly was able to pick up the ESM and periscope but some of the smaller things took him a few seconds.

There was a walkway extending over to the submarine and at the end stood a boy Jack recognized. It was his XO, Lieutenant Robert Ellis! They both locked eyes for a moment before Jack walked over to him and onto the submarine. The cold, hard, metal felt different beneath his boots. A wave of excitement rushed through his body and he couldn't help but smile.

"Captain!"

"Lieutenant!" They both stood at attention and saluted each other before Jack gave Robert a handshake. Just because they were in a submariner program didn't mean they couldn't be friends. Jack recognized the need to keep an aura of formality between his crew but he also wanted everyone to be somewhat relaxed.

"Sir, may I be the first to formally welcome you aboard the USS Pearl!"

"Thanks Lieutenant, it's great to see you once again!"

"Same, so sir would you like to go inside?"

"Na I'll just stay out here for the rest of my life."

"Roger that, right this way sir!" They both laughed as the got up into the sail and climbed down into the sub. All movement stopped as they got on and everyone immediately looked at them until someone shouted those magic words.

"Captain on deck!"

Everybody immediately shot to attention and delivered a salute, Jack simply returned one as he walked over to his chair sitting in the middle of the control room. His eyes were scanning his surroundings the entire time, he felt the cold air inside. He thought he would feel a bit odd to know that he would be with this crew for the next few months stuck inside a giant metal tube.

He turned on the intercom system, the headset was attached to the standard navy hat and was in his room along with his proper uniform.

"All hands, I am your Captain Jack Cutter. I look forward to spending this year with y'all!" He went through the typical speech of how he wanted the ship run and so forth until finally finishing off with how he wanted the head of every department to come onto the command center within the next two minutes.

"Lieutenant do you mind If I call you Robert?" It was typically a break from formality not to refer to someone as their rank but he didn't care.

"Yes sir!"

"Good, now Robert I'm going to go to my quarters and grab a few items before returning. I expect everyone to be here upon my return, understood?"

"Yes sir!" With that Jack went over to his stateroom and grabbed what he presumed was his orders and changed into his new uniform. It was softer than the school issued one and he got to wear tennis shoes, they were believed to be quieter and safer for the wearer.

His room wasn't as large as the ones on the ships, but it was still large nonetheless. Considering the small crew they took out most of the crew quarters and replaced them with more room for torpedoes.

After grabbing everything he quickly made his way back to the command center where the department heads were waiting for him. As soon as he climbed down the steep ladder down all of the sailors saluted once more.

"Alright guys, can we please go down the line starting off with Robert."

"I'm Lieutenant Robert Ellis, as you all know I'll be your XO."

He was a relatively tall guy, 6' and had brown hair with bright blue eyes and a gaze that seemed to switch between friendly and angry every few seconds.

"Command Master Chief Petty Officer David Halsey, I'm the COB."

He was almost exactly like Robert except for him being 2 inches taller and starting to grow a beard, regulation meant you needed to be groomed at all times.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Steven Thompson, I'll be your chief navigator."

He looked almost scarily German and while he was only 5'11 he still had an intimidating build, he spoke surprisingly soft though.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade David Adler, I'll be your corpsman so I'll probably be seeing y'all soon." He chuckled slightly when he said this and it was true, heads were cut quiet often on the sharp metal.

"Petty Officer First Class George Brady, I'll be your ET-Comm."

While he wasn't an officer he would still be in charge of all communications and electrics so if anything with electricity running through it went wrong he could fix it.

"I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Mark Carson, I'll be your chief sonar technician. Most people call me Sonar though, can't wait for us to have some fun this year.

A 5'11 15-year-old whose amber eyes seemed to shoot around the room at every noise made, it honestly didn't surprise Jack one bit considering he was in charge of literally hearing everything outside the submarine considering the small crew.

"Hey, I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicholas Fletcher and I'll be your pilot." The funny thing about the Pearl was that it only required one pilot due to its modern upgrades. He basically had control over everything related and had the assistance of a computer to do so, he would just plug in the information and there it would go.

That was only a little bonus that the nuclear crew got to prepare them for the newer submarine models after the Virginia class which were set to come out in a few years.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Scotty Cooper and I'll be your chief nuclear technician, it'll be great to work with you once again Captain."

"Glad I can say the same Scotty!" It was funny how much of a resemblance Scotty had to Simon Pegg, the actor that played Scotty in the Star Trek movies years ago.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Jake Ackerson and I'm your weapons officer, if you want something blown up just give me a call!" The way he said those last few words sort of unnerved Jack as the light reflected off of Jake's silver eyes.

"Well good to know and as I said earlier I'll be glad to work with you this year. As we speak we are currently being taken out by tug boats until we get into a sufficient amount of water for us to maneuver so let's go over our orders." Jack said this as he opened the small package.

He placed it on the table next to his chair and everyone crowded around to try and get a glimpse.

 **USS Pearl**

 **Official Orders**

 **Classified**

 **If you are reading this then you have successfully boarded your new nuclear submarine and our heading out into the open ocean. You are to head to coordinates of** **34°19'09.9"N 139°18'34.3"E. Once you are within 10 miles of here you will begin your exercise.**

 **Your exercise will be with the Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School. They are a maritime school in charge of producing sailors for the Japanese 'Blue Mermaids'. Your goal will be to arrive in the general area and begin searching for any and all military ships belonging to the WW2 Era.**

 **We have received permission from the Japanese for you to use torpedoes, as you know the training torpedoes will lightly impact a ship or submarine. Depending on the size and a number of other factors the vessel hit will calculate damage using on board computer. Your goal is to sink 20 ships before having to re-arm.**

 **You will be able to re-arm on a US submarine tender located at 33°48'34.7"N 138°43'33.9"E. The ship will be at these coordinates once you send out a message specifically asking it to be there, it's callsign will be AS-40.**

 **After re-arming you are too continuing to engage ships until you have 5 torpedoes left at which point you will return to Guam for debriefing. All previous orders are canceled immediately.**

 **This will be a potentially dangerous mission; radio silence is to be made unless absolutely necessary. Good luck and bring the Pearl back in one piece!**

 **Admiral Scott Tidd, Principal of the USHSF Submariner Academy**

They had all read their orders and were intrigued, they couldn't wait to go out. They would be fighting technically inferior and, in their minds, personally inferior crews, at least in terms of the experience of the crew.

"Hey Steven, those coordinates where are they?" Robert asked as Steven took off to his sector. They knew they'd be heading to Japan but it wasn't like they had the coordinates memorized. Each of them spoke a variety of languages, Japanese was required ever since It became the world's second largest economic and military powerhouse.

He returned after inputting the coordinates into the onboard computer which was connected to GPS. "It's off the coast of Tokyo near an island called Niijima!"

There onboard computer would only work when surfaced so the navigator had to know how to use a map. While Steven was an expert with one he still didn't want to take the time to do so, why waste time?

Either way there was a somber look among the officers as they knew what they were about to do. Jack sat down on his chair and put on his hat on before connecting his headset to the submarine intercom system.

"Crew of the USS Pearl, this is your captain speaking. We have just received orders to head to the coast of Japan off Tokyo. We will be conducting an exercise with the Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School. It will take us around 72 hours to arrive at our location so I would like everyone to get to your stations. As we are speaking the tugboats have successfully pulled us out into open water." He finished off his words as soon as the two bow planes were released into position.

As soon as they were released from the tugboats orders were immediately thrown around and the submarine prepared to dive. There was an aura of excitement as they slipped below the waves. Everything was sealed for the obvious reason that no one wanted to have any problems with flooding.

"Set depth 100 meters, ahead full!" Jack ordered through his headset with exactment. These were his first maneuvering orders of his new career and he couldn't wait to say more.

"Set depth 100 meters, ahead full maneuvering aye!" Nicholas said as he began to speed up the submarine and start its dive. The submarine would typically cavitate around 91 meters so they would get a full 9 meters clearance. While this wasn't much it wasn't like they were expecting to get into any combat.

Typically in the British Navy when a submarine was at ahead full it was the fastest it could go but for the Americans flank speed was faster. This would waste fuel and could damage or wear down the engines but seeing as they were now using nuclear power they didn't need to worry as much.

The ballast tanks immediately began taking in water until they were only slightly at negative buoyancy and the bow planes shifted making the decent easier. Within minutes they had dove to their target depth. They were to continue along like this until they reached their destination or until something got their attention.

The sensors were pretty much all turned off aside from the BQQ-2 which was constantly running on passive sonar. They did have a periscope but you would have to be at 40 ft. also known as periscope depth for it to work for obvious reasons.

"Alright Steven plot me a course to our destination." Jack ordered as Steven immediately walked over to his map and began taking calculations based on their position. Within a minute he plotted a course and opened his mouth to speak.

"Sir, course recommendation bearing 87, continue ahead full." His desk was full of different instruments to calculate when and where they were.

"Make course 87, continue ahead full!" Jack ordered as Nicholas turned the Pearl into the proper position.

"Alright guys we're on our way now so everybody just relax and enjoy yourselves." Jack joked, they would now have 72 hours of waiting in front of them.

"Sir, requesting that the crew takes shifts to make sure their bunks are in order."

"Of course, Robert but I want everyone doing it in shifts and for them not to take too long, we don't exactly have a big crew."

"Thanks sir!"

"Sir regarding the crew, why do we only have 35?" David asked with a troubled yet curious tone.

"You know that we are always given smaller crews to increase the experience hours per person yet I understand your concern considering a school submarine usually runs with around 60."

"I would also like to recommend a test dive and minor trials on the way up there to find the limits of this sub."

"Noted, let's just make sure everyone gets settled in before we do anything and speaking of getting ready I'm gonna go set my stuff up, understood?"

"Yes sir!"

With that Jack got up and headed over to his stateroom. Robert was left in charge of the boat until he got back.

As soon as Jack walked into his room he shut the door behind him before taking a good look at his new room. He had only glanced at it before so getting to actually get a decent look at it was nice. It wasn't the biggest thing but it was bigger than everyone else's rooms and in the case of the crew, bunks.

He had his bunk which was soft and had decent covers over it along with his desk and a seat. Along the walls were charts of the world, a phone, clothes, pictures of the Pearl, and a model of it.

His desk was neatly covered in paper he hadn't gone through yet along with a few other basic sheets.

Either way his room was nice and he simply laid down just to enjoy how soft the bed was compared to his flight over. To be honest he was exhausted and needed to sleep but he couldn't he had things to do, soon his deployment would truly start. He was ready for combat and couldn't wait to prove his crew against the Japanese, all he could do for now though was wait.

Hey guys, thats the first chapter and their will be plenty more trust me!

I've had this on my computer for a little over a month now and these won't be updated as often as my other stories. Trust me the amount of chapters put up will increase very quickly within the coming weeks, I have three weeks till summer break. I've been busy with Crew and exams lately but they'll be over soon!

As always reviews are appreciated and if anyone has any information on any specific types of ships or submarines lmk!

 **I do not own Production IMS**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jack had just finished 'fancying' his room. He was now in his typical captain's uniform along with his headset. He settled in comfortably into his sneakers as he walked down the small halls of his nuclear submarine.

The submarine was on its way to Japan, they had left Guam a few hours ago and he had slightly rested up. His mind was still full of excitement at the adventure ahead of him.

Jack wanted to check out the submarine and since most of its crew were at their stations he could see what they were doing. It wasn't like anyone could stop him, he was the captain.

The submarine was 267 feet long, obviously all of this wasn't living space, but he intended to know every foot by the end of the school year. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what compartment to check out first, the torpedo room, the nuclear engineers, crew quarters, galley?

Within seconds he had made the choice to work from front to back, the torpedo room would be first. He began making his way forward, with the skeleton crew he only saw a few members. After a quick and simple salute, he continued on.

The doors throughout the submarine were open, save for the entrances to the nuclear reactor and the staterooms among others. Jack simply walked into the torpedo room before seeing Jake.

The torpedo room was big compared to most of the sub, it had to be. The 30 modified Mk 37 torpedoes were all in their racks lining the floor and walls. Each of them in line with one of the 6 forward torpedo tubes.

"Captain!" Jake said as he quickly snapped to attention and delivered a salute. The two other enlisted personnel in the room quickly doing the same.

"Jake, I told you, just acknowledge my presence, no need to be so formal."

"Sorry sir, what can I do for you?" His silver eyes in combination with the black hair seemed to poke a hole in Jake's soul. While he was only 5'10" his gaze seemed extremely intimidating.

"What can you tell me about our torpedoes?" Jack knew the specifications of the sub and torpedoes but wasn't an expert. Jake as the sub's weapons officer, was.

"Well sir the Pearl has 8, 21-inch torpedo tubes, 6 forward and 2 aft. The weapons department does have 2 more enlisted personal currently stationed in the aft torpedo room. We're equipped with 30 Mk 37 torpedoes." As soon as he said that Jack signaled him to stop with a raise of his hand as he began to speak.

"The Mk37, give me a run-down of her specs." Jack brushed his brown hair out of his face before adjusting his hat.

"She's a modified version of the original Mk37. All in all, our torpedo resembles an NT37. Powered by an Otto fuel engine capable of doing 36 knots to a range of 16,400 meters. She carries a 330lbs explosive charge. It'll sink most light ships and submarines but we'll need to hit the heavier ships more than once." Jake explained as he pointed at a diagram of the torpedo on the wall.

"She uses active and passive sonar, right?"

"Yes, she'll go active whenever you program her too or she'll passively track a target until she gets within 700m."

"Thanks, how do you think she'll do against the Girl's Marine Highschool?"

"Wonderful, I wouldn't be surprised if almost every torpedo we fire hits." With that Jack face slowly grew into a smile as his mind processed all this new information.

"Thanks Jake, I got to go so peace!" With that Jack left the room and begun making his way towards his next destination, the crew quarters.

Within seconds he walked into the quarters, it was devoid of life. He saw the bags inside the lockers and a few clothes on the bunks. They had their own reading light an air conditioning, a substantial improvement over the diesel navy.

The room was shrunk to accommodate the larger torpedo storage and the overall small crew. That doesn't mean it was cramped though, he walked through it once more before walking out to the galley. The smells of the different foods penetrated his nose as soon as he entered. The cook was clearly busy making something, Jack didn't know what it was, but he wanted it.

"Captain!" The cook, Buckman by his tag was a rather tall man with minorly out of shape figure, something rare in the high school submariner world.

"Hey Buckman, what are we making for tonight!" He asked as his nose began taking in new smells as he was at the cook's counter.

"Steak and mash potatoes sir, it's a USHSF nuclear tradition." He responded with a hearty laugh and a smile on his face. His cook only white uniform looking pure as milk.

"Great, God I can't wait!"

"Well sir dinner will be at 1800."

"Good, I'll leave you to it." With that Jack once again exited another room before heading into the med bay. In reality it had been the officer's wardroom on the submarine but as everyone ate at the mess on the school ships it was converted.

"Captain." David said as he and his staff our four walked around, preparing the 'med bay' for anything that might come around.

"How we doing in here?"

"We're trying, God knows all the things that could go wrong. Were in a cramped, metal tube 500 feet below with a damn machine that could spew radiation in an instant. Do you know how many ways you could die?" David's tone from earlier seemed to have disappeared as he was now full of worry, his southern accent only brining it out.

"We'll be fine, besides were the first high schoolers aboard this newest class of submarine, think about the adventure!" Jack joked as everyone in the room was still rushing around and finishing their jobs.

"Whatever you say, either way I can't wait to get some fresh air!" With that Jack walked out the room chuckling, David was clearly a pessimist, he'd fix that soon.

He continued on walking and listening to the noises around him. It was quieter than the surface but still loud, obviously if they needed they could make themselves dead quiet. He ran his hand along the cold metal to his side, feeling the texture of it as he took a turn into the sonar room.

"Hey Sonar!" Jack said as he walked into the small room, a myriad of instruments around him.

"Captain!" He replied as he begun flicking through various screens on his iPad. They sonar room was given two iPads which could both trace various signatures and noises and help the sonar man identify them. One for the sonar and another for the ESM mast and radar.

"Anything happening?"

"Nothing much, a family of whales was swimming by about an hour ago, some merchant ship's engine was acting up since it kept going on and off."

"Nice, let me know if you hear anything. We'll be starting drills here soon enough so get ready to hear some crushing."

"Crushing?"

"Yep, we're gonna see how deep she take it!" With that he walked out laughing, everyone was.

His last stop was the engineering department, where everything that actually kept the submarine going happened.

There wasn't really much color in the submarine aside from the various color-coded valves or monitors. Everything was just black and the lights, while they were strong didn't exactly help. He enjoyed the surface, the sun on his face, the wind in his hair but this was the life he chose. To be the terror of the deep and the nightmares of men.

His mind soon turned to a more lighter tone as he heard a familiar voice, George. "Fuck!"

"C'mon George your fine." Scotty joked as he slapped George on the back with a laugh, his Scottish accent beaming.

"Hey guys what's up?" Jack said as he walked in with a smile on his face, albeit a curious one.

"Just running some final checks on the systems, George has been taking a few bloody volts." As if God heard that within the second George got nailed once again. Then, out of nowhere, he began singing Frank Sinatra.

 _Fly me to the moon_

 _Let me play among the stars_

"The hell? He seemed so normal a minute ago!" Jack said as he looked down at their ET-Comm now singing with one hell of an impression.

"He is sir!

 _Let me see what spring is like_

 _On Jupiter and Mars_

It's only after he gets a bloody good shock!" Scotty replied between the singing, the other two members of the engineering department continuing on with their duties.

"Alright then though you might want to get him to calm down soon, were about to dive!" With that Jack walked out and made his way over to his own territory, the conn.

It didn't take him long to walk through the various water tight compartments before arriving at his station and taking a seat.

"Captain!" Robert said as he walked up to Jack with a smile on his face.

"Hey, so how we doing?"

"Good sir! We're 68 hours away from Guam and on schedule."

"Good to here, I want for us to take a test dive." As these words were said everyone in the conn looked over at the captain, faces or worry and happiness filled the room.

"Understood sir, do you want to lead it?"

"You know it!" Jack let out a little cheer causing spirits in the department to lighten up.

"Nicholas, 20 degrees down bubble!" Jack ordered as his pilot soon began to fulfill the orders.

"20 degrees down bubble, maneuvering aye!"

The submarine quickly began to head straight to the sea floor. They were still traveling at 22 knots and he had no intention of slowing down.

"Dive, dive, dive, rig for deep dive!" Robert said over the comm headset as everyone began last second preparation such as making sure things were secure.

"150 meters, 200 meters!" David, the COB was calling out the depth as they dove. The crew could feel the sub begin to squeeze and the hull creak, while they were only going to test depth it would still apply pressure.

"Captain, I believe we've reached test depth." Robert said as he looked at Jack who was still sitting down on his captain's chair.

"No, I want to see how deep we can take her, continue on." He replied with a tone of steely confidence, one that seemed to inspire others.

"Yes sir!" A nervous aura now seemed to fill the submarine as they continued diving, the sounds of the hull compressing still present.

"No leaks reported sir!"

The submarine continued to bend underneath the thirty atmospheres of pressure. The men in the conn grew more and more nervous as they could now see cabinets and equipment coming towards them.

Within a second the valve on one of the many pipes leading through the submarine burst. As if from a movie it shot out at incredible speed and bounced around the room yet never hit anyone.

"Level her off!" Jack ordered as the submarine stopped its decent and begun to slightly rise.

"Maximum depth was 250 meters, sir!" David said, his eyes were trained on the depth gage the entire time.

"God, I love this job!" Jack yelled as he jumped up, the wildest grin on his face.

"That means that our crush depth is…325 meters sir give or take a few!" David said, test depth was typically 2/3rd of the crush depth. Since their submarine wasn't designed off of the tear drop hull as other modern designs they had a lower crush depth. Now it was higher than the previous submarine designs before it and would clearly have an advantage over anything diesel.

"Engineering, we need someone to fix a valve, pronto!" Jack ordered through the intercom, within the minute one of the enlisted arrived. A short white haired, brown eyed boy no older than 15 ran through before looking at the snapped pipe. Within seconds he quickly placed down a box of tools and began to attach a spare valve, the original being bent to hell.

"Done Captain!" He said as threw up a salute and ran back to Engineering. Jack simply responded by shooting thanks over by intercom before sitting back down on his seat.

"Alright guys what do you figure we should do now?" Jack asked, he wanted input from the crew and not just his own. He wanted everyone to be involved and to learn everything aside from their own jobs so that if anything happened they could be replacements.

"Well Captain, I figure we should probably shoot up to periscope depth and take a look around just to make sure everything is working." Robert had a look on his face, one that Jack couldn't decipher, and it unnerved him.

"Alright then, Nicholas bring us up to periscope depth, slowly."

"Bringing her up to periscope depth, maneuvering aye!" With that the submarine began to slowly rise, the hull slightly popping back as they ascended. Nothing broke although the occasional creak prompted one or two crew members to jump, much to the enjoyment of everyone else.

You could hear the water being pushed out of the ballast tanks as it was replaced with air. The ascent wasn't rapid so no one had the need to hold on as was common with the emergency blows submarines occasionally did.

Periscope depth on the Pearl was 12 meters, lower than the modern submarines but higher than most older models. The Skate class was the first production run of a nuclear submarine. Combined with the Nautilus almost all modern nukes owed parts of their design to them.

"Captain were at periscope depth!" David called out as the submarine began to level off.

"Up scope!" Jack ordered as the scope began to drop from the roof. The scope came down to just below his neck before he flipped out the handles on the side. He slung his arms over the handles as he looked through the eye piece.

He was greeted with a series of lines and a crosshair. The top of the scope was barely a few feet above the surface, giving him a limited view. The sight of the clear blue ocean and the sky was truly amazing.

"Take a look Robert!" Looking through the eye piece Robert saw the same clear blue ocean. The same expression of wonder was on his face, it really hit them the that they were on a submarine. This would typically be their only view of life above the surface, other than that they would be down under.

"Should we take her up?" David asked with an expectant tone, he wanted to get a full view.

"Down scope! Prepare to surface!" Jack ordered within the second, a smile growing across the officers' faces.

The submarine instantly began to slow down as it started towards the surface. Within seconds the sail had broken through the now choppy water. The submarine was designed to run on the surface yet was faster underwater so it rarely surfaced.

"Captain we're up!" Nicholas quietly said.

"Alright then David, Robert come up with me!"

They began making their way up to the sail, climbing through watertight compartments and into the bridge. They all had bright smiles across their faces as they opened up the hatch keeping everything sealed. Within a few seconds and some forceful spins, they had managed to climb onto the small platform.

Jack was the first one up as he took a look at the expanse in front of him, the feeling of the warm sun on his face. He rubbed his brown hair out of his face as began to slightly sweat, the heat on the surface much higher than that inside the submarine.

His gaze was quickly averted towards the horizon and straight at the sunset behind them. Standing on the sail seemed to give an aura of power as they looked out over the top of the submarine. They were cruising along at 15 knots now and the water around them was kicking up.

"You know that really looks amazing!" David was looking at the sunset when an idea popped into his mind. "Let's get a picture of us in this!"

"How?" They both asked in unison, none of them would take a selfie so how did he plan to do so.

"Well we need someone with a camera who could go and stand on the hull!" Both the boys facepalmed, the answer was so obvious and they were supposed to be smart.

"Alright then I'll go grab some enlisted guy and a camera!" Robert immediately shot back down the ladders into the conn. The darkness coming back to him and the air growing cold as he descended into the belly of the beast.

"Alright I need an enlisted with a camera…you!" He was pointing towards a short and not so happy looking seaman. Robert didn't exactly know why he was like this, but he figured it had to do with the fact that he was being called out for work. He also had a camera in his hand for some unknown reason.

"Now look…Kuz...Kuznet…Kuznetsov I need you to walk out onto the hull and take a photo, ok?"

"Yes sir." It was the most monotone reply anyone ever heard and the icing on the cake was the Russian accent. What was weird was that there was a Russian on board. The USHSF was almost all Americans with the occasional North American foreigner so why was this kid from Russia here, they had their own program?

"Nicholas make speed 10 knots!"

"Make speed 10 knots, maneuvering aye!" The submarine slowly began to slow down. It wasn't like they wanted Kusnetsov to get swept off the submarine, no matter how funny it would be.

"Captain got our man!" Jack and David both looked over this short Russian who still didn't look happy. Yet he continued with his job as he climbed down the sail and onto the hull.

"Try and get a picture with us and the sunset in the background!" Most ships had a dedicated person on board who would take photos and at the end of the year would make a compilation. The Pearl didn't have one so all photos were by the crew.

Within seconds he had made his way to the very front of the submarine and began to lift his camera. The view was amazing, the sail followed along with the rest of the submarine as the sun set with a myriad of colors. The three superior officers were all standing together with each other's arms around one's shoulders. Their uniforms contrasting against the sun in the background making the picture all the better.

"Got it sirs!"

"Alright now get one of us saluting and you can come back on board!"

A minute later Kusnetsov climbed his way back up the ladder, while the Russian was short he was muscular, and it showed.

"Kusnetsov what's your job?" David asked as he looked over the boy in front of him with a steely yet awkwardly nice expression, his blue eyes trying to get a read on him.

"Fireman sir!"

"You belong an Engineering, why were you in the conn?"

"JG Cooper sent me to inspect the ship, said he wanted me to learn the sub."

"Alright then go back to what you were doing."

"Yes sir." An aura of suspicion seemed to hang in the air as he ran away. They weren't sure if it was because he was Russian or just that it seemed odd for him to have learned the sub earlier.

"David keep an eye on him." Jack said as they began to make their way down below, each of them taking their last breath of 'fresh' air before sealing the hatch.

They all navigated down the various compartments of the submarine before making it back to the conn where everyone was staring at them.

"Orders Captain?" Nicholas asked with a curious tone, he enjoyed being in control of a multi-million-dollar nuclear machine.

"Make depth 100 meters, 22 knots!"

"Make depth 100 meters, 22 knots, maneuvering aye!" His tone one of sadness as he most likely wouldn't be seeing the sun for a while. The submarine quickly taking on the water in the ballast tanks as it dove.

"Captain, permission to speak informally?" Robert asked the thought on everyone's mind, at which point could they further drop the formalities. Jack knew what he meant and that was cussing.

"Dude you don't need to ask, Scotty and George were cussing up a storm earlier."

"I can't Goddamned wait to get to Japan and kick some ass!" A cheer came up from the crew, everyone was excited to go into fight. The exercises were due to start 2 days from now so and everyone was itching for a fight.

"Well then when we get there I want the best out of all of you, act proper on the surface. Underneath though I don't give a shit just show a little respect."

"Yes Captain!" The entire crew bellowed with a cheer once again some even throwing hands up in the air.

"So, David any ideas as to what the hell we should do next?"

"No Captain." For once the man in charge of all the enlisted sailors didn't have a clue.

"I do Captain!" Robert proudly exclaimed as an idea popped into his mind.

"Ok shoot." Robert brushed his brown hair out of his face before looking directly into Jack's soul with his icy blue eyes. All eyes were on him as he began to speak, his pale skin not changing a shade as he spoke.

"Let's see how fast we can push the Pearl!"

"Alright then so once were done with that then we should have all our preliminary tests out of the way, great!" Excitement filled his brown eyes as he switched on his headset to the frequency used by engineering.

"Scotty were going to run a speed test, are we good?"

"Not really." His Scottish accent came out in full as his department dropped everything and listened to the sound of their captain's voice.

"What do you mean not really?" The tone changed to one of frustration and that was not something you wanted to see.

"Well technically speaking I can get us to full power for a short amount of time but that might damage the hull. It'll be even worse if it damages the giant bloody nuclear nightmare waiting to happen!" Only the three head officers could here this conversation and if Scotty's tone unnerved them then God knows what it might do to the crew.

"Can you do it Scotty?"

"Only for a minute, any more than that and I'm cutting her off." A smile slowly crept around Jack's face as he uttered the words every captain wanted to say.

"Nicholas…punch it!"

"Aye Captain!" With that the submarine began to slowly increase in speed, the S4W nuclear reactor beginning to run faster and faster. Within seconds they were cavitating but it didn't matter, they had no need to be silent.

"Approaching 26 knots Captain!" They were above the official speed of the Pearl but Jack wanted more, he wanted to push it past the limits.

"Can you get me more Scotty?"

"I'm giving her all she's got Captain!" Still the submarine began to increase speed as the reactor began pushing itself harder and harder.

"28 knots Captain!" The sound of equipment starting to strain could be heard throughout the submarine now.

"Captain if we keep this up she'll rupture!" Scotty yelled over the radio. The entirety of the submarine was relaxed aside from engineering who was running around monitoring the situation.

"Got it, cut it back to ahead full!"

"Ahead full, maneuvering aye!" Nicholas quickly switched a switch causing the submarine to begin slowing down tremendously, or at least what was considered tremendous due to the relative speed.

"Scotty any problems?"

"Not yet Captain although it'll take us a few minutes to check."

"Understood, keep me posted."

"Captain a slight request, unless were about to die let's never bloody do that ever…ever…again!"

Jack laughed before responding with the simplest thing possible in the situation. "Noted."

"Captain the Skates' top unofficial speed ever measured was 25 knots, how'd we hit 28?" Robert asked with a questioning look, while he was the XO it didn't mean he knew everything.

Jack simply smiled before replying. "That's because the Skates' never pushed their reactor to the point of fucking blowing up!"

Everyone in the room chuckled uneasily at that. Were they really that close to going nuclear? What would've happened if they did and would they have survived.

"Captain for one I agree with Scotty, unless were about to die let's not do that every fucking again!" David said, the normally steely Master Chief now showing worry in his tone.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I don't plan to take us on a stay at home field trip of Chernobyl." An uneasy laugh spread across the crew, Nicholas looked directly into his eyes. His amber eyes seemed to show a nice peace with a hint of pain. It was awkward, but he decided it would probably be better not to press it.

"That's definitely reassuring Captain!" David replied with what had to be the biggest shit eating grin possible, his brown hair and blue eyes only making it worse.

"So, I know were not allowed to play music or bring speakers but does anyone by chance got one. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to play anything over the comms." Jack asked, the only thing left for the day was dinner and even though they weren't bored the music would make it better.

"Captain I got an aux in my room, give me a sec!" Steven said as he got up from his navigation table and jogged through the compartments.

"Any ideas for songs?" Everyone began to think long and hard on the subject, it wasn't like they had signal underwater so they hoped whatever they chose he had.

"Electro swing!"

"Country!"

Rock!"

"Rap!"

"Pop!"

"Dubstep!"

"Hip-hop!" Ideas for genres came out from everyone in the conn yet no songs, at least that was until Sonar poked his head through one of the ladders leading to the sonar room. "Well since the XO and Captain are both from places around Seattle let's play some band from there!"

A chorus of nods went around the room as Steven ran back into the room, aux in hand.

"The Pretender!" David burst out in excitement causing everyone to laugh before another chorus of nods took the room.

"Let me just put this someplace smart and connect my phone…got it!" It was placed directly on a cup holder on top of the navigation table so it wouldn't fall out and could be heard by all.

 _Keep you in the dark_

 _You know they all pretend_

 _Keep you in the dark_

 _And so, it all began_

The sound of a guitar pierced the air as a man began to sing the famous lyrics. Everyone in the conn and surrounding rooms could hear it and it was a nice break from the casual white noise that they were so used too.

As soon as the guitar picked up and the rest of the band joined in each of the boys felt an electrifying thrill go through them. Jack and Robert were singing along the entire way followed by a few other boys.

 _What if I say I'm not like the others?_

 _What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

 _You're the pretender_

 _What if I say I will never surrender?_

 _What if I say I'm not like the others?_

 _What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

 _You're the pretender_

 _What if I say that I'll never surrender?_

The next few songs came on through the aux and the rock continued, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, all the famous bands were playing. The excitement continued through the sub.

"Hey Captain!" Sonar called through the intercom, the music blaring in the background.

"Yes Sonar?"

"I wonder if there are any other submarines or ships around listening to us?"

"Yeah good point, I bet whoever's listening is thinking were a party boat, no way you can tell were a submarine by the noise!"

"Actually, Captain I have an idea!"

"Shoot!"

"Well what if for a final drill before dinner we simulate being under attack, the crew won't know what's happening and we can tell weapons to 'fire' a torpedo."

"You know that might just be the best idea you've had all day!"

"Thanks Captain!"

"Hey look, I'm going to let weapons know about the plan, I'll let you know and I want you to shoot one active ping."

"Wilco!"

"David this is Jack, do you read me?"

"Captain I can barely hear you over the music y'all are playing. You need something?"

"Yes, were going to simulate being under attack, on my mark you tell me a torpedo is in the water. Only Sonar knows about this plan so try and make it convincing!"

"Wilco!" Jack immediately began to run a list of scenarios through his head. How would the crew react? What would they do? Would they question orders? Would they question about the Pearl being attacked hundreds of miles away from the combat zone? Either way he needed to start the drill so he quickly changed frequency to the sonar room and hoped no one had listened in on their conversation.

"Sonar now!" Sonar pushed a button on the monitor in front of him, the sonar sending out an impulse which if it hit something it would bounce back and tell them distance and form. The ping made a loud noise yet it was still barely audible over the music.

"Conn, sonar: we're being actively pinged!" All the officers in the conn had their headsets on so they immediately began to spring into action. Not questioning the news, much to Jack's delight.

"David sound general quarters!" There wasn't even a reply as David flipped a switch causing the lights to turn red and flash instantly getting everyone's attention.

"Rig for ultra-silent!" Jack ordered as the crew shuffled around to their set positions. The music was instantly cut and stowed away and no one made a sound. The engineering department quickly begun to flip switches causing all but the most essential equipment to shut-off. The submarine slowed down to five knots and awaited orders, the only noise from the sub now was the sound of the coolant being pumped.

Everyone's hearts began to beat faster and faster, the air becoming hotter and hotter without the air conditioning. Soon sweat started to form as the heat became an annoyance mixed with the nervousness of the crew, each of them listening for a sound.

"Conn, sonar: new contact bearing 260, designated Sierra 1."

"Sonar, classification?"

"Negative Captain, trying to get a read ASAP!" The room was once again filled with an electrifying vibe and a myriad of questions. What was tracking them? Who was tracking them? Were they going to be fired upon?

All of these questions stopped as those fateful words were uttered.

"Conn, sonar: torpedo in the water!" Hearts skipped a beat as the mood instantly changed in the room. Why were they being fired upon?

"Release ship from ultra-quiet, torpedo evasion!" Jack ordered as he stood up from his seat and into the middle of the conn. Everyone was in a frantic rush as the submarine quickly picked up speed to 22 knots in record time.

"Nicholas, 3 degrees down bubble!" The submarine slowly began to dive as water was taken in and the dive planes changed. Everyone was still listening for the sound of the torpedo but only Sonar could hear it.

"Conn, sonar: I have an accurate reading on Sierra 2, 3000 KYD, bearing 250, 120 meters depth, 15 knots speed!" The news came as a relief to the crew, they knew where there 'enemy' was but weren't sure as to what it was.

Jack looked down at the tablet in his hand and after swiping a few pages made it to the live weapons feed of the submarine.

The three head officers in the conn and sonar room had one that gave an updated view of what was happening around them from what updates they received courtesy of the sonar and navigation rooms. It was essentially a topographical map of the area, with live points showing what was around them that had been pinned. It was originally given to crews only a little after 2020 and was essentially a carbon copy of the mini-map in the game _Cold Waters_ , they developed the map after it.

Both Robert and David were about to open their tablets as soon as they saw Jack do so but he shot them a glare. He didn't want them to tell the crew about the truth as there was no actual target. They seemed to understand that point as both of them returned to what they were doing just seconds ago.

"Passing 150 meters!"

The onboard computer had a firing solution ready and so Jack simply plugged in the orders he wanted. The Mk37 was to be passive up until reaching 700 meters of its arranged target in which it would go active. It would be running level and snake pattern until lock. The commands only took him a few seconds as he pressed a button sending the information to the now programmed torpedo with orders to launch from the 'pre-loaded tube'.

He wouldn't have to worry about whether or not the enemy would even have the chance of being detected as they were both below the thermal layer and facing relatively towards each other.

"Conn, torpedo room: firing Mk 37 tube 1, weapon is away!" All the officers head this call as their hearts began to race harder and harder. They knew it was a dummy torpedo used only for training but what if the torpedo fired back wasn't? Were they about to start a war?

In reality the torpedo was never fired and the tube never loaded but the crew didn't know that and they acted as if it were all real. The thing was that unless you were in the torpedo or sonar room you wouldn't hear it launch, it was a swim out.

"Captain passing 200 meters!"

"Captain where's the enemy torpedo?" Fletcher asked, what seemed like a hint of fear in his voice. He simply replied with a shake of the head which did not help his nerves at all.

"Fletcher level off!" Jack ordered as the submarine once again began to get to 0 degrees down bubble, or at least as close as it could get. A minute passed by as the crew still wondered as to what was happening, yet no word came.

"Conn, sonar: Fish gone active, acquired target!" A slight cheer went through the boys' minds, whatever attacked them was about to get a rude reply.

At that moment it occurred to Jack that they weren't running silent anymore, although it probably didn't even matter considering the drill.

"Conn, sonar: lost contact Sierra 1, last bearing 260, contact breaking up! Detonation confirmed, we got her Captain!" Every member of the crew cheered at what they thought their first victory, although the thought about the combat zone occurred no one mentioned it.

Jack switched on the submarines intercom as he began to speak through his headset, rubbing some of his brown hair out of the way in the process.

"Alright guys you did great! Now that was a drill, but you were never given warning, so you acted like you were in combat. Now I know these words sound a little disappointing, although if this is the way we are in combat, then I can't wait for it!" A cheer came through the submarine once more as everyone was happy at the compliment, seemingly not caring about the drill that scared a large percentage of the crew into believing death was probable.

"Remember though, don't get too cocky because once we start our drills those enemies will be real, and those factors won't be so easy next time. Captain Jack out!" The grew began to quiet down as all of the general quarters lights began shutting off in the sub. Sweat now cooled causing a few to shiver until they heard a few magic words.

"Attention guys, this is Culinary Specialist Buckman, dinner is ready!" The mood in the submarine rose to new heights as everyone cheered, the crew had an assigned roster for the rotation of shifts, the Captain and XO ate on the first shift.

All eyes darted towards Jack who simply smiled in return before wiping a bit of the now freezing sweat off his brow. "You heard the man, first shift out!" The first shift cheered once again as they walked towards the mess, Captain and XO included. Both had a smile on their rather white faces, the steak and potatoes would only make it better.

A sort of electrifying aura surrounded the crew, the anticipation of their combat drills filled the air. Everyone could feel it and they all enjoyed it, the thrill of combat was close. Jack felt confident, if this crew found itself in combat, they were ready! 

**That's it guys!**

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and trust me, they'll be plenty more coming. If you guys haven't guessed my update schedule just know that next a new _SEALs of Saunders_ will be coming out soon. If you guys noticed any mistakes, be it grammatical or factual please let me know. **!Reviews are always appreciated!**

 **I do not own Haifuri!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Conn, sonar: Multiple contacts bearing 315! I think it's the fleet!" Sonar called over the headset to every officer in the room, each of them wincing at the sudden burst. It wasn't that early in the morning but it wasn't that late either. Jack had only just woken up an hour ago and gone to monitor the current situation. They had made progress faster than expected so it was still a few hours before the exercise was slated to start.

The last two nights had been an experience for the crew. The already small crew having to get used to being thinned out for their nightly shifts. Everyone was worked hard but as long as everyone knew their job and worked hard on it they were fine.

If anyone had to really complain it would be Nicholas. The poor guy was up next to non-stop due to him being the only designated pilot. He had traded off with an enlisted who had a decent idea of the controls. Not that that really made him feel much better, he would train the him until a level of proficiency was reached.

The 3 meals a day had been amazing, high quality food combined with a relatively competent chef, Buckman. The steak and mash potatoes from the first night were still fresh in everyone's mind. Jack had an idea to give the men a small treat once they 'sunk' their first ship. The goal would be at least 60,000 tons considering the technical superiority among other factors. Every 10,000 he would make sure they received another treat. If they somehow managed to reach the ungodly number of 100,000 then he would throw some sort of party. Unless they sank almost every ship their they would need to destroyer the Yamato class battleship Musashi along with a few screens.

Now by the rules that Jack was aware of, as soon as his submarine was 'sunk', he needed to surface. Upon this he would raise a white flag and head towards Yokosuka port. If he wasn't sunk then he could re-arm and continue until the end of the exercise, maintaining radio silence for most of the time.

Robert had taken the earlier shift and had been awake for a few hours before Jack, black coffee in hand. This new duty of being in control of men had taught them a few valuable lessons, one of which was always listen to the COB. David was their true connection with the enlisted crewmen and if a problem came up he would know about it. The basic structure of the submarine's command wasn't the only thing he had learned. The personality of a few crew members had changed being underwater, even for such a short period.

George seemed to get more and more crazy as the volts came and went. No one really knew what to say although he did seem to have a good friendship with Scotty. Sonar had become glued to the screen like a two-year-old watching cartoons, it was rare to see him not at his post. The corpsman, David, had begun checking peoples physical and mental conditions at the most random of times. Jack didn't bother to ask as long as he didn't have to deal with it. Jake and the torpedo room had begun tinkering with one of the Mk37s. He didn't really know what the goal was but as long as it didn't explode, he was cool with it.

"David can I get a reading?" Jack needed to know exactly what their depth, speed, and heading was for what he was about to do next.

"We're underway at a depth of 50 meters, 22 knots, and a heading of 340!"

"Good, good. Nicholas bring us up to periscope depth!"

"Periscope depth maneuvering aye!" Nicholas began fiddling with a series of buttons before the submarine began ascending. Within the minute they were cruising along normally. The only thing left was to throw up the periscope.

"Nicholas make speed 5 knots…up scope!" The periscope once again popped into the middle of the room as Jack flipped the handles down.

"Alright someone tell Sonar to keep an eye on that sonar. I'm going to let them know we're in the general area and heading out to sea." Jack knew their starting position was 50 miles away from the current position. There was also a few ships belonging to a German school somewhere out in the oceanic arena.

Looking around, Jack noticed a myriad of ships from the small destroyers and cruisers to the big battleships. A few Japanese submarine sails could be seen in the distance. The sea was relatively calm and the ships were clearly loud judging by Sonar taking off his headset and plugging his ears. Flipping a switch on the periscope he began to flicker the communication light in Morse code. It only took a few seconds before he got the attention of the main administrative Japanese ship, an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship.

The ship looked like something straight out of a sci fi film. From the angles making up the hull to the single Mk 45 Mod 4 gun in the front. Every piece on that ship served a purpose to its design no matter how ugly and Jack knew if they went up against one of those things in combat, they weren't making it out alive.

 _USS Pearl SSN-580 checking in!_ The message only took him a few seconds to relay before he got a reply. A simple _Understood_ was all he got as he continued looking through the eye piece. He took most of the time looking at the destroyers and their ASW equipment, namely the depth charges. Other than that, there weren't really any dangers to his submarine as they would never have to surface.

"Down scope!" Jack had finished 'talking' to the Japanese instructor. They had two hours to get to their starting position before the exercise begun.

"Conn: the periscope is rigged and ready for dive!" David was technically the acting dive officer as they didn't have one. Jobs had to be combined and crewmembers taking greater responsibility, it would one day pay off.

"Steven, you alive?" The crew laughed as their chief navigator rubbed his eyes, he had fallen asleep.

"Captain, sad to report I'm still ticking!"

"Well give me a course to our starting area!" Jack didn't know the exact course and it would only take Steven a second do so.

"Can I give the order to Nicholas?" Everyone laughed once more at Steven's request as Jack tried to calm them all down.

"Fuck it, why not?" Steven had a look of delight on his face as he calculated their position with glee.

"Bring us to 030, pick her up to 22 knots and dive to 100 meters!" Steven's first orders were the most basic but he didn't care, he was having the time of his life. Jack knew it was against regulation but getting to issue orders to a nuclear submarine was a morale booster. That was something he wanted to keep high among the crew.

"Conn, helm: Come right to 030, helm aye!" Nicholas turned, sped up, and dove at the same time using his state of the art controls. The crew could feel the submarine take in water and speed up. While no issue of specific angle of dive was issued Nicholas had learned that the typical dive was around 5 degrees down bubble.

Jack sat down on his captain's chair before running a hand through his brown hair. Letting out a big breath of air he spoke.

"Crew of the Pearl, your first war game will be starting in less than two hours. Now while we only have two days together as a crew we have something the enemy doesn't. We have 2,850 tons of American nuclear ingenuity. I want you all to treat this like our great grandfathers did back in WW2! We will be the sole survivor of this exercise and remember, the admirals back home will be watching us!"

A cheer went among the crew as a chant began, _USA, USA, USA!_ The feeling was ecstatic, any resemblance of fear wasn't to be seen in their eyes. In the minds of the crew they were representing America and a long-standing tradition of submarine warfare. Failure was unacceptable and each one of them was willing to go through hell to prove it.

The noise soon died down when Scotty popped over the comms.

"You know Captain I really wish we had a tear drop hull, we'd be quieter and faster." The officers laughed, no one knew how Scotty's mind had jumped from a speech about preparation to submarine design.

"Well we all do but this is the most advanced submarine a student could ever get. Do you not like her?" The atmosphere was somewhere between laughing and disappointed. Of course, they wanted something better, but this was the best they could get.

"I love her but there's just a few little things that make my job a pain sometimes."

"Scotty all of our jobs are a pain half of the time, care to explain?"

"The S4W reactor has a tendency to overheat when going at high speeds for an extended period of time. While our hull is an improvement over the Nautilus it doesn't have the same design as the later Skipjack class. To put it simply, our hull was designed for running on the surface and it wasn't till the Albacore showed us we were wrong that it was changed. In terms of the numbers were also a hell of a lot louder than the other diesel submarines we'll go against."

"I completely agree with you on everything you just said but if there now testing the feasibility of a Skate class what's stopping them from next year adding in a Skipjack class. Just like the Albacore we're a test and regarding how loud we are we do have an advantage. We can dive deeper and stay there forever and now we won't be traveling at high speeds since it is a patrol. Expect to be at 10 knots…oh and by the way with the new modern equipment we have we're actually as quiet as a Skipjack, 140 ish decibels at 20 knots!"

"You're right but still that is considered a noisy submarine and on the regards of the WW2 diesels they'll be around 120 decibels!"

"I know but that's not even when running silent, we can cut it down too around 120 ish decibels and remember these numbers are only the noise the hull creates a foot away. The farther you get out the quieter we are and considering their passive sonar is crap comparatively. There's also ambient noise, a surface duct and a thermal layer. Besides we have the best crew here!"

"Sorry for the worry Captain but it's my job to worry about anything engineering."

"Oh, trust me I know and I want you to keep worrying. If there's any modifications you think we can do to make us quieter then by all means let me know!"

"Thank you, Captain, means a lot." It almost sounded as if Scotty was sniffling over the mic. The room now had an uneasy tension as Jack's mind wondered about what to say. Thankfully Robert came to his rescue with a myriad of questions.

"Alright Steven get a topographical map of the area plus any readings as to what the layers are. I also want forecasts of the weather for the next month plus an idea as to what's near us!"

"Yes sir!" Steven and the 2 other members of the navigation department began racing to figure out their location's information. This was one of those things where a department had to take on the job of another due to the small crew compliment.

There was still an awkward silence for about a minute until the department had the requested information.

"Ok so most of the arena will be at around 100-300 meters in depth and is around the Izu islands. Around 35 miles away bearing 255 we get water around 1,000 m. Around 25 miles away from us bearing 070 it'll actually shoot down to 8300 meters as we enter the Izu-Ogasawra trench." The officers' minds twisted around the problem as they began analyzing the various data in front of them. Jack knew that as the Captain he should take charge.

"We can hunt in the areas of around 300 meters. I want us to try and use the terrain to our advantage so let's stay around the edges of the map. Are the maps of the trench hyper accurate?"

"Yes, the Japanese have spent decades doing so and they have it down to a foot. We'll have enough clearance that the foot won't matter anyways."

"Alright Robert get me the known fleet composition of all enemy forces. Steven do you have the weather readings?"

"Well there should be a nice 5-knot southwesterly wind for the next 3 days. On the 4th day there is a predicted storm so that'll cover our current half of the arena for 3 days with a northeasterly up to 27 knots and with heavy rain. The air temperature will be in the 50s to 60s then entire time with a possible low of the mid 40s. The water is unusually cold and will be in the 40s. A strong thermocline layer is present almost everywhere until you get to 100-200 meters of water."

"Good, keep that handy. I have a really strong gut feeling we'll need it!" Steven knew that meant his job was done and he went back to his station. Now all he could do was wait for any new orders, a gut-wrenching feeling.

"I have a list here of all known enemy ships! 6 2,540-ton Kagero class destroyers, 36 type 2 depth charges each since their late model with a speed of up to 35 knots. 5 of them were sunk during WW2 by American submarines so if we have the element of surprise and close range we should put a torpedo into them. 1 72,809-ton operational Yamato class battleship, it has a type 0 hydrophone system with no ASW capabilities. Top speed of 27 knots so I would recommend we give it 3-4 torpedoes if given the chance."

"Got it what else? I know I saw a few submarines and there's also our German friends."

"Yea um…2 30,000-ton Kongou class battlecruisers capable of 30 knots and another basic hydrophone system. No ASW capabilities so I would recommend we give it 2-3 of our torpedoes."

"They don't have any normal cruisers?"

"Not that I know of Captain, if they did it would be a 5,800-ton Sendai-class at 35 knots and 56 mines. Now the submarines are a different story, most of them will be an assortment of German U-boats but there will be 3 1,503-ton Japanese I-201 class submarines. They're a fast attack sub capable of up to 19 knots under with the fastest torpedo of WW2, the type 95 which can get up to 51 knots although it's not a problem for us."

"And the Germans subs?" Robert flicked through the separate screens of his iPad so fast one could wonder whether or not he was actually reading them.

"They're bringing 15 subs to the party, 10 type 7Cs, 3 type 9Cs, and 2 type 21s. Now those 21s we really need to be careful about, part of the Pearl's design was after those. They're 17 knots under and a hell of a lot more advanced than anything else, quietest things out there."

"What about the torpedoes? I heard the Germans are starting to use acoustics and ditch the old gyroscopic ones."

"Yea about that, I don't know. Let's say worse comes to worse and they do have them. They'll be packin the G7es which can hit us up to 5700 meters away at a speed of 24 knots. They were designed to sink convoys but I heard they modified them to work on subs. They're really sensitive so if we make even the slightest noise we're fucked."

"Fuck…we do have noisemakers, right?" If the Germans really did have acoustic torpedoes then an effective countermeasure was needed.

"Yea we have 20 of them."

"Good although I'm worried that might not be enough, can we jerry rig any?" Roberts mind tried to figure out his Captain's question, then it hit him. If he wanted the answers to something that could be classified as a weapon why didn't he just ask the weapons officer?

"No idea Captain. I recommend you ask Jake, he's the weapons officer so he should know."

"Someone go get Jake!" Jack didn't even respond or look up as he gave orders. He could hear someone run down the passageways of the submarine, not a word being said.

"I do however have some information on the one German ship." A few second pause was all that happened as Jack looked up with a confused face.

"C'mon man, if you say you have information speak it!" Everyone laughed as Jack wiped his brow, even with the air-conditioned room he seemed to be sweating.

"Right, the 14,890-ton armored cruiser Admiral Graf Spee. She can go 28.5 knots but doesn't have any ASW capabilities. If we get a chance I would recommend we give her 1-2 torpedoes although I can guarantee she'll have a sub escort."

"Sonar get your ass down here!" This time it was David who yelled as the crew laughed. Sonar ran from his position like Usain Bolt before sliding down the ladder and saluting, hitting his head in the process.

"Yes, Master Chief?" He still seemed a bit in shock from hitting his head although no one decided to press that.

"You have your sonar iPad…right?" Jack wasn't sure what David had planned but whatever it was it would be good.

"Of course!"

"Well then get it the fuck out!" This time the crew in the conn died as Sonar went into overdrive taking the iPad out and turning it on.

"Got it!"

"Ok I'm going to give you a list of ship and sub classes, make sure we have them documented!"

"Shoot!"

"Alright, Kagero, Kongou, Musashi, I-201, Sendai, U-boat type 7Cs, U-boat type 9Cs, U-boat type 2, and the Admiral Graff Spee!" Sonars fingers moved so fast that if he was 50 feet tall he would of caused a tornado. His only response was yes, yes, yes much to the relief of David.

"Is that it?"

"Yes, now go home!" Sonar saluted once more before sprinting up the ladder and back into his little room. The crew at that point were pretty much done laughing although a few were still wiping away a few tears.

"Jesus dude, you didn't have to be that hard on the poor guy." Jack showed a bit of his soft side as he too wiped away a tear.

"Yea I know but It was fucking hilarious." And he was completely right, it had to be one of the funniest moments on board the submarine so far. Although so far didn't really explain much as this was only their third day out to sea.

"True but remember, that guys our sonar operator and can fuck this whole thing up for us. Give the poor guy a break sometimes."

"Yes Captain, I'll make sure not to bust him 100% of the time. Only 90% of the time!" Jack gave him a disapproving look causing him to reiterate.

"80%...50%...argh fine only 20% of the time! You happy?" All David got back was a slight smile from Jack as David gave an annoyed look. There was a few seconds of silence before Jack finally spoke with a big sigh.

"I'm going to address the crew." Jack, turning on his headset, moved the hat into a more comfortable position atop his head before speaking once more.

"Crew of the USS Pearl its your Captain speaking once again. Thank you for taking this submarine as your preferred method of travel, the United States thanks you! Now if you look to your left you'll see metal, if you look too your right you'll see more metal…fascinating! Nah I'm just fuckin with y'all, onto the real reason were here. In less than 20 minutes our exercise will be starting so I want everyone to get ready. We will be facing a myriad of surface ships from the small but deadly Kagero class destroyers to the big, dumb, and juicy target of the Yamato class battleship Musashi. Aside from the ASW capabilities of the destroyers we're going to have to deal with the probability of 15 U-boats equipped with acoustic torpedoes. Get ready to go on are first patrol, combat could come at any second. Captain Jack out!"

The atmosphere turned heavy as the boys steeled their nerves. In less than 20 minutes they would begin their first ever war game. Combat was certain and the chance that something could turn bloody was there, no matter how low it still worried a few. If it the atmosphere really hit anyone it would have to be Jack. If anything happened to the crew he could be held responsible and as the Captain probably would be.

The United States Navy and various high school programs had a history of scapegoating a ship's captain no matter how obvious it was that it wasn't his fault. An 'arm chair admiral' was the most dangerous thing in his opinion and the fact that could ruin one's life disgusted him.

Other than that, he seemed relatively at ease, yet his mind was at war. A war filled with a thousand different battlegrounds and a million different tactics. He could try and skirt around the trench to use its depths as cover with the added bonus of the walls helping mask an active sonar trace.

"Captain do we have an idea as to what our course will be?" Steven called over the intercom, an important question in mind.

"I think so…we're going to patrol southward along the outside of the Izu-Ogasawra trench at a depth of 200m. We'll continue along that course unless we receive a trace of an enemy. Assuming we don't we'll cover it till we get 5 miles away from the border. When that's done set a course bearing 270 which we'll continue until we make contact. I have a feeling that if they're not along this trench then they'll be at the bottom."

"Yes, Captain plotting a course right now!" A small smirk came across his face. He believed that was the best course of action and if anyone wanted to contest him they'd be welcome to do so. No one said a word until Jake came up from the torpedo room. What on earth had taken him so long? Jack didn't know but he decided there were more pressing matters ahead.

"Captain!" A salute in the most fashionable manner was given causing a few of the crew looking over to smirk.

"Jake you're in charge of the noise makers, right?"

"Sort of…one of my enlisted guys is really in charge of it although I'm head of the department."

"Well do you know how they work and so forth?" Jack really didn't want to have to send him back and get someone else on the conn. This should have happened earlier but due to some mysterious delay, didn't.

"I know everything that can be jettisoned from this sub Captain."

"Good! Then if we run out of noisemakers can we make new ones if resupply isn't available?" Jake scratched his head for a few seconds as his mind tried to piece together its chromosomes.

"They won't be as effective but yeah we can probably make a few out of some of the equipment on board. Bit worried what'll happen if we run out of that stuff though."

"Well then let's make sure that doesn't happen."

"Yes Captain!" Jake saluted once more and turned to leave, Jack stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Hey about that one 'work in progress' Mk 37. What are you guys doing with it?"

"Well we're mostly trying to see if we can improve anything on it. You know speed, range, target acquisition, and general noise characteristics. It's kinda like open heart surgery though so results will be dependent on work which will take a while. We don't want to risk setting the damn thing off, even though it's a training torp it's still dangerous."

"I see although if there's anything you're gonna work on make it the general speed of the torpedo. The range is fine and the passive running on the thing is quiet, only 120 decibels. You'll never be able to make the 230-decibel active run quieter so don't try. If you can get the damn thing into the 40-50 knot range then were cooking with Crisco!"

"Got it, although…with the Otto fuel engine we will need to do some possibly combustive chemistry to make it so. If the Navy guys in the cold war couldn't do it then I'm not sure we can either."

"Don't think that way, we now have half a century worth of data regarding the fuel mixture with us. Just take some of that and tweak it a little, please though don't reduce the range, I'm happy where it's at."

"The chemistry side of this, my department is good but were not that good."

"Ok I'll send some help over from engineering, one of them has to know a little something about chemistry or owns a book about it. If not then I'll put out a ship wide call, if your new design works then we might be able to hit the Japanese destroyers from range!" An excited tone could be heard. Jack knew that it wasn't the fact that it would help them win, but the fact that if this worked out then they could present it to the academy. They would be stoked about it and the influential crew members could possibly receive awards. Awards would have to wait though as Jake turned around and headed towards his post. Something caught his mind though as he once again turned his head around back towards Jack.

"Hey if its ok with you can we paint a shark's face on the torpedo?"

"Will it there be any negative effects?"

"Not that I'm aware of. It'll just take a little too dry so we'll only do a few at a time."

"Then sure! I'll check in sometime to see it!"

"Alright then thanks Captain!" With that he once again continued back to his post. No further interruptions were to be had this time, much to Jack's relief.

"Starting in 5 minutes Captain!" David could clearly be seen looking down at his wrist, a G-shock with a timer evident.

"Alright I want all final preparations made, chop, chop!" Jack looked over at David he knew the plan. The Master Chief taking over the job of dive officer once again.

"Nicholas set depth 200 meters, ahead 2/3, start patrol bearing 165!"

"Set depth 200 meters, ahead 2/3, start patrol bearing 165, maneuvering aye!" The submarine slightly shifted as Nicholas pushed the airplane like controls down. Jack chuckled in the background causing both David and Robert to look at him.

"Do you think that when there's a torpedo close by and we need to react within the second that we should say flood depth control, down on the planes?" The officers all mentally scratched their heads and in the case of Jack physically as they wondered what the exact procedure would be.

"I don't see why not and I'll give you an update on depth every 50 meters, every 10 once we approach crush depth!" David was the first to reply as Robert made his way to the nearest ladder.

"I'm going to go notify one of the engineers about the whole torpedo situation." That was all he said before climbing up the ladder. Jack laughed at this sudden shift in attitude as he turned his attention back towards David's wrist watch.

"2 minutes Captain, ya nervous?" There was a bit of uneasiness in David's voice. Jack now knew for sure they were all nervous but who wasn't. This up and coming series of events could judge their life and what happens later on in it.

"You know it although I do kinda want to give both the Japs and Nazis a torpedo!"

"Hey as long as the torpedo doesn't come back I don't care where it goes!"

"You know it…although I do have one question." Jack seemed to have a knack for asking questions right before important events, this was no exception.

"Shoot!"

"Are we allowed to go after merchant vessels if they belong to the various schools?"

"Merchant vessels? Like supply and repair ships?" The question was a bit of an odd one though important.

"There isn't a rule that says were not allowed too although how will we know if it's a school ship?"

"I bet sonar and his iPad can tell the difference. What other vintage WW2 ships would be going around?"

"Alright then that settles it, we can target them if we get the chance."

"Cool although I don't want to use more than one torpedo on them. We're already gonna be cutting it tight depending on who we run into. Which…by the way…who do you want to make contact with first?" David was quiet for a few seconds as he thought of an answer. It wasn't in an important question, just one that would require personal preference and thought.

"The Germans!" He held his finger about a foot away from his chest as he pointed into the air.

"Why?"

"Well I think that it'll be great for us to get some sub to sub combat. Also, since they're the biggest threat to us I'd like to get them out of the way early on so we can have relatively free reign over the Japanese." It was true their biggest danger was the German U-boats and their acoustic torpedoes. The Japanese really only could challenge them with depth charges and while effective the sub could simply speed away. All they would have to do is get to a depth where cavitation wasn't a problem at full speed and then motor it away. The depth charges would take a while to sink to the certain depth and by that time they sub would already be out of the area of effect.

"Makes sense, makes sense. Alright one more question…what should we do for the crew when we get kills or reach landmarks? You know like something every 10,000-tons sunk. I'm thinking a nicer dinner but I want your opinion."

"Sure, I think we should have a nicer dinner as well but for every major landmark like the first 25,000 we should make some sort of ceremonial drink, possibly bug juice!" Now bug juice was a sugary drink made of a mysterious powder in the US Navy. Whether or not it actually has any real fruit or sugar is debatable.

"If we make 100,000 tons I think we should throw a party when this is over, even more so if we win!" Jack was still sort of ecstatic at the prospect of winning their first war game.

"Hell yeah! Let's make sure it happens and when it does we'll finalize plans!" The two boys both laughed and patted each other on the back only to be interrupted by a sudden beeping. They both looked around for the source of the noise until David realized where it was coming from, his watch. It only took a second after for Jack to realize the same and he immediately straightened up as Robert returned to the conn. Not a single second was wasted as he got onto the intercom.

"Attention…attention…the war game has begun. I repeat the wargame has begun. Prepare for a general quarters class at any moment, over!" The human noise of the submarine stopped that instant as every member on their post begun working. Those few not on the job returned to their respective bunks and what not with a new-found quietness. The air was tense with the shallow breathing of the crew. Even though they weren't running silent the crew acted like they were. Jack only said one thing before sitting down, that one thing seemed to echo through the passageways of the sub.

"Into the depths we go…God bless our souls."

* * *

That's it for Chapter 3! I hope you guys liked it as much as I did. I will be away for about a week mountain climbing so I'm sorry if the next chapter of Ghost Pilots of Saunders is delayed a little. If there is anything you wan't me to know please leave a review!

As always I do not own **Haifuri**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

For the past few hours, the creaking of the water flowing past the steel hull of the submarine had been the only thing anyone had heard. At 650 feet, the pressure exerted by the water around them had been immense, around 20 atmospheres. It was almost eerily quiet in the conn as no one had made a sound, everyone eagerly awaiting the first contact.

Every so often someone's eyes would wander off to the side, towards the ladder that led up to the sonar room. Jack's mind wandered as he sat down on his chair in the middle of the conn, his eyes examining the compartment around him. The bulkheads were covered in different dials, meters, and piping, nothing was smooth and pretty, yet it all seemed to fit in perfectly.

Along with the three officers, ten enlisted men occupied the decently spaced compartment. This included the backup pilot and the few men in charge of monitoring various systems like the communication between departments along with gauges regarding depth, heading, and pressure.

It had occurred to Jack in the course of the past few hours since the beginning of the match that he had issued orders in both feet and meters. This went against regulations, and in the actual Navy, they'd be using feet, yards, and nautical miles. While he was somewhat upset that no one in the crew had approached him about his mistake, he let it go.

Jack looked over at Robert, he was quietly talking to Steven, every so often pointing towards the small topographical map sitting on his desk. Sipping on what Jack guessed was a cup of black coffee, Robert seemed rather pleased with his decisions up to that point. Such is the Law of Conservation of Happiness, happiness cannot be created nor destroyed. Someone else has their delight taken away from them and given to another.

The little jokes about submarine life were what kept Jack alive, while he had only been in charge of the Pearl for the past few days, he had grown to enjoy these small reminders of life. When the time did come for him to go to the mess, he liked to sit with the rest of the men on board and get to know them. Very quickly Jack noticed a growing rivalry between the Nukes and Coners.

Nukes are the electricians and mechanics that work in the engine room have been through specialized training that the rest don't go through. Coners referred to anyone who worked in the front of the submarine. He hadn't seen pranks yet as everyone was still serious about the mission, but he expected things to happen soon.

"Conn, sonar: I need to talk to you ASAP!" While Jack wondered what Sonar was thinking, he didn't question his motives. Sonar was a bit off as a person, although he wasn't even close to George Brady, the man still knew how to do his job.

Jack turned around to see both Robert and David looking at him, faces molded into curiosity. With a sleight of hand, he told them everything they needed to know, he'd go check it out. Careful not to speak too loudly he alerted everyone in the conn of where he was going.

"Lieutenant Ellis has the conn." While a few crew members did turn around and look at him, he didn't pay them much attention, he had a job to do. The ladder up to the sonar compartment was steep but quick, and within seconds he had already made his way up.

As Jack poked his head into the sonar room, he saw Sonar anxiously looking at the circular screen in front of him, the two other enlisted men in charge of the radio and ESM mast both looking at their officer yearning for answers.

Sonar didn't even look over at his Captain, a customary salute was left out as well. The same couldn't be said by the two enlisted men who readily snapped to a salute. While some officers may chew out an offense like this, Jack excused it as he knew Sonar was listening in on something important.

"What do you have for me Sonar?"

"Captain, I have three biologics about 200 feet above us." The way he said it made it seem like a question.

"That's what you called me up for?" Jack was pretty annoyed, he'd expected something a bit more significant.

"Not exactly, the biologics seem to be spooked about something, and it's not us."

"Well, how long have we been with them for?"

"Thirty some-odd minutes, they've only just been spooked." Jack saw the genius behind Sonar's find, it was definitely odd that the biologics had only been scared just now.

"So something out there's got them riled up?"

"Problem is, I don't have a clue as to what does. It could be anything, submarines, ships, other whales, maybe even a giant squid." Jack laughed at the thought that a squid could spook a whale, although he'd only heard stories of them and had never actually seen one in person.

"As the sonar man, you have any ideas as to what we should do?"

"You probably don't want us to go active on sonar, right?" It didn't take long for Sonar to read Jack's face, it was somewhere around No Shit Sherlock.

"Then I don't have anything for you, Captain." Jack sighed as he put his hand on his face, there wasn't much he could think of doing.

"Look Sonar, I'm going back down to the conn, make sure to keep me updated. If you even have the slightest sense of the Germans out there, I want you to tell us immediately, understood?"

"Uhh, yes sir!" The red-haired LTJG gave him a quick salute with an odd face before zoning back in on his sonar screen.

Jack sent up a quick and quiet prayer before carefully making his way back down the ladder and over to his chair. On his iPad, he pulled up the subs diagnostics and began scanning over all the recent reports. He always wanted to be on top of how each and every compartment aboard the submarine was doing. Sadly his work was interrupted by the presence of two very tall crew members in dark blue uniforms.

"What?" Jack was a bit direct with his question to his two subordinates, and honestly, he was pretty tired.

"So Captain, what'd that crazy bastard tell you?" David still had some of the minor disdain in his voice, something Jack didn't really approve of. Sighing once again he looked up as he opened his mouth to speak, only for the headset to interrupt his train of thought.

"Conn, sonar: New contact bearing two-zero-zero, designated Sierra 1!" Everyone perked up at the mention of a new sonar contact, the tried crew itching for a fight.

When a vessel was separated from the ambient noise, it'd be designated with a specific nomenclature. Sierra for sonar, Victor for visual contact, Romeo for radar contact, Echo for ESM contacts, when the same vessel is detected by more than one of these methods, it's assigned a Master designation.

"Sonar, Conn: Are you sure?" Jack wanted confirmation before he ordered the crew to battle stations, any reasonable captain would.

"Conn, sonar: Positive, running the weak signature through the computer right now." As the two other boys looked down at Jack for approval, he nodded as David made his way over to the submarine's 1MC to broadcast his next order.

"All hands Battlestations Torpedo!" He repeated this phrase a few more times before the lights flickered into a dark, blood red. Jack looked around him as the air inside the submarine grew thick and hot, everyone's nerves boiling with anxiety as they waited for news on the contact ahead of them.

"Robert, get back to the Nav and give me an update as to what the contour around us is, I want to be ready for whatever might get near us."

"Sir, yes sir!" He quickly made his way back to the navigation section of the conn, Jack could hear him talking to Steven about his newest mission.

"David, while you're still on the 1MC could you rig the ship for ultra quiet?" Jack phrased it like a question, but the rather smart Master Cheif knew it too be a cold, real order.

"Yes, Captain!" Within seconds he was back on the shipwide radio.

"Rig ship for ultra-quiet," David spoke with a sudden calm to his voice, something that Jack hoped in these moments of stress would help the crew.

While in the last few days everyone on the ship Jack had noticed that the ever-present buzzing of the nuclear reactor and the water brushing against the hull had become quieter, it hadn't entirely gone away. This time, when he gave the orders, it mostly dissipated into the background. He could still see a few crewmen coming in from different corridors, quickly entering the conn and going to work, most coming from the mess.

"Nicholas, make speed five knots." Jack looked at their chief pilot, knowing that their acting dive officer, David, was busy on the shipwide comm.

"Make speed five knots, maneuvering aye!" Jack thought for a second what he'd do, he debated whether or not he was going to wait for the maps from the Nav or try and get a shot off first.

"Sonar, Conn: How are we looking on that contact, do you have an ID yet?" There was a bit of silence on the headset as he waited for his reply, whatever Sonar said next would impact his choices from now on.

"Conn, sonar: Sierra 1 is definitely a submerged contact, still no positive ID on its class though." David looked back at Jack with concern on his face, he wanted to have a general idea as to where the contact was.

"Sonar, conn: Do you have a possible shooting solution on Sierra 1?" This time his response was within seconds, a pleasant surprise to the tired Captain.

"Conn, sonar: Possible reading on Sierra 1, 8,000 yards, bearing two-one-two, six-zero-zero feet, eight knots speed, five-zero percent solution. We're almost directly behind her, still trying to get a positive ID." He could tell the anticipation in Sonar's voice, he was whispering yet he still sounded nervous. Everyone who had been permitted to talk lately had been whispering, no one wanted to be noticed.

"Just got back from the Nav, bottom depth is 26,000 feet, and it's only going to get deeper. We should have around 300 feet of clearance to each side right now, so maneuvers aren't really recommended until we ascend another 200 feet." Jack's mind processed all this new information as he tried to get an idea as to what his plan would be.

"If we're right behind Sierra 1 then we should try and use this advantage. Once we get a positive ID, then I want to plug our numbers into the TDC and get ready to fire. They shouldn't have enough room to maneuver either, so they only have two directions to go. Get the TDC ready, I want our TDC technician waiting ASAP! If Sonar's right then we should be in Sierra 1's blind spot so he shouldn't detect that torpedo until its right on top of him." Robert nodded, a steely determination on his face as he headed up to the attack center.

"Torpedo room, conn: load Mk 37 tube one, begin fire point procedures," Jack spoke into the headset softly, hoping that the weapons officer, Jack was prepared.

"Conn, torpedo room: loading Mk 37 tube one, beginning fire point procedures, aye sir." Jack was pleased that he heard the response so quickly and quietly, there were only a few more things he had to get done before their first fish could enter the water. David stood diligently in front of him acting as the dive officer, watching over every movement Nicholas and the rest of the crew made. It would take five minutes before the Mk 37 was loaded in the tube using a mix of hydraulic and hand-cranked systems, just a bit faster than the original Skate. They had an advantage because the torpedo was already on the slide to move into the tube and not on the storage racks. Jack had previously given the order to cache torpedoes on the slides ready to load at all times.

"Conn, sonar: I have an accurate reading on Sierra 1. She's at 9,000 yards, bearing two-zero-nine, six-zero-zero feet, but she's slowed down to seven knots speed." David turned around and gave Jack a big smile, he could feel the anticipation in the air for what was about to come.

"Sonar, Conn: How accurate is that reading, seven-zero percent?" Jack wanted to make sure Sonar had a good bearing on their target before engaging, he didn't want to screw up their first fish.

"Conn, sonar: Easily eight-five percent Captain, I'd bet my life on it." There was a giddy feeling running throughout his body until a sense of dread took over. He still didn't have a positive identification on what exactly Sierra 1 was.

"Robert, I want you to give these coordinates to the TDC technician. Torpedo tube 1, Mk 37 shall be programmed to go active at 9,000 yards, bearing two-one-zero, running straight and deep. Understood?"

"Captain, TDC has torpedo tube 1, Mk 37 programmed to go active at 9,000 yards, bearing two-one-zero, running straight and deep. Input calculations?"

"Not yet, I need to ask the torpedo room if they're ready, hold on for a few more seconds."

"Torpedo room, conn: Is Tube 1 loaded, flooded, and ready to fire?"

"Conn, torpedo room: Tube 1 ready." Jack was pleased at the efficiency they were having for their first combat mission. Of course, as time went on this process would get quicker as each submariner became experienced with his craft.

"Robert, advise the TDC technician he is clear to input the previous coordinates and send them to the torpedo room.

"Wilco Captain, the TDC technician has been informed and will be sending the coordinates to the torpedo room any second."

"Conn, sonar: Sierra 1 is classified as U-Boat Type 7C." The designation calmed Jack, chances are this was just a lone wolf and not much of a threat to him. He assumed this was one of the newer captains learning the ropes in this exercise and not working in a wolf pack.

Again, David looked back at Jack as if waiting for him to give the order to 'kill' the U-boat before it turned around and realized that it was being followed.

"Torpedo room, conn: Fire Mk 37 tube 1!" Everyone held their breath as they waited for the response from the torpedo room. Upstairs, Sonar visibly shuttered from the slight noise made by the torpedo swimming out of its tube, a funny sight to all in the sonar room.

"Conn, torpedo room: Firing Mk 37 tube 1, the weapon is away!" The hot, re-processed air in the submarine grew tense as everyone waited for the torpedo to take its course. Jack could see nervous faces and crossed fingers all around him, each and everyone in anticipation for what was to come.

"Hey David, if the torpedo is going at thirty-six knots, it should only take like seven and a half minutes to reach 9,000 yards, right?" David visibly ran the numbers through his head, thirty-six knots was around 1,215 yards per minute.

"Give or take a few seconds Captain, should be!" While they were technically breaking the rules of running under ultra quiet, this was something that needed to be discussed.

"Then the Type 7C should only be able to cover 1,723 yards before our torpedo goes active and if our fish has an acquisition range of 950 yards, they'll be 773 yards out of range." David's mind once again processed the new information, for a second he was worried they may have miscalculated where to give the torpedo the orders to go active.

"Well, it should only take forty seconds for our fish to cover that gap so we should be fine. Unless the Type 7C pulls some unheard of maneuvers or detects our fish actively pinging by changing its current course, we should be just fine Captain." Jack was relieved, while in the future he should account for the gap used by the speed of torpedo and submarine, he knew the Mk 37 still had a good chance at hitting its target.

"David, as your responsibility entails, I want you to critique everything I do. Don't be afraid to use harsh words, I don't want myself making a mistake that could've been easily avoided, understood?"

"Yes, Captain!" David gave Jack a firm face, in his mind today was the day David would begin to push himself on questioning his Captain's orders for the betterment of the crew. He knew there was one other mission-critical person he should tell about their mistake before getting back to the mission at hand.

"Robert, if in case I make another rookie mistake like not accounting for the target's speed, please remind me before any numbers are punched into the TDC." It was only a few seconds before he got a response from the XO, an unhappy one at that.

"Fuck, I'm sorry Captain, I should have noticed that."

"Look, Robert, don't worry! It's our first time firing a torpedo in a war game, so mistakes are to be expected. Let's just learn from this and try to make the Pearl a well-oiled machine for our next target to come up against." Jack felt rather pleased with his little talk, he thought that he worded what he had just said about practice well.

"Understood Captain, will do!" Jack left the conversation at that, he didn't want to continue what he thought could be taken as chastising any longer.

"David, once we get a confirmation on if our fish ran true, do you think we should continue our current course or try to maneuver somewhere else?" The six foot two-inch-tall, brown-haired command master chief scratched his hair, trying to come up with a possible idea as to what their strategy might be.

"Personally Captain, I think we should pick back up to one-third speed and continue our patrol. It shouldn't be long before Sierra 1 get's away from us and docks at the Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School as it waits for the end of the match." While David's plan was rather sound, it needed more detail for Jack to give the go-ahead for the order, after they 'sunk' the U-Boat he'd make sure to reconvene all the officers in the conn and set up a new plan of attack.

"Alright then, let's wait until this little fight is over and we'll move on from there. Until then, any questions about how things might work when a ship gets sunk?" Sighing, David tried to think of any questions he might have, he already knew most of what he could possibly ask.

"Just one thing, how will a sunken ship notify everyone that it has been, you know, sunk, Captain?"

"Good question, the ship in question will raise a white flag below their country of origin's flag and turn on an omnidirectional pinger which Sonar will hear and notify us about."

"Thanks, Captain! Other than that, I don't really have anything I don't know, they taught us pretty well back in Seattle." Jack gave David a small smile as he walked back to his chair, promptly sitting down with a little plop. He had set a time on his iPad for eight minutes and twenty seconds, around the amount of time it should take for the Mk 37 to hit its target.

By this point, the nervousness aura in the conn was beginning to reach maximum levels, everyone was waiting patiently for the confirmation of a kill. A kill that, according to Jack and David's math, should be occurring sometime within the next three and a half minutes. Being the captain that was trying to diffuse nervous situations, he decided the best way to do so was by talking.

"David, could you imagine if we were still in Seattle? Having to deal with an instructor on the submarine constantly drilling everyone." David chuckled a bit at the thought, not much but just a little bit.

"I know right, but instead were halfway around the world fighting the Germans and the Japanese. I'd be willing to bet you that none of the original USS Skate members ever thought that there'd be a bunch of high schoolers running a nuclear submarine." The mood seemed to lighten up a bit, at least to the point to where Jack was happy. While this talk wasn't mission critical, and therefore breaking the rules of running under ultra quiet, he viewed it as knowing that when the time came, they wouldn't break standard procedure.

"Yeah, I'd say they'd probably freak the fuck out!" This time a few other submariners in the conn laughed along, each enjoying the slight relief the conversation brought them.

"They'd all turn into Scotty or HS Adler and worry about our safety way too much. I'd be willing to bet that they'd see us as a bunch of ET Bradys."

"Conn, fire control: weapon has gone active." Jack slightly bit his lip as he began counting down in his head until the torpedo would acquire the Type 7C.

Any further conversation was cut as the timer went off with a slight ping. The torpedo should acquire its target within the next thirty seconds, a significant step in sinking the U-boat. While the eerie and nervous aura that ran the conn earlier returned, it was noticeably weaker, something that Jack took pride in.

"Conn, fire control: weapon acquired." Some of the most anticipated words on the submarine finally were said, and the nervous aura of the room slightly went up, everyone waiting for the signal of a confirmed kill. Something funny about the previous statement was that it was said using proper submarine communications and not directly by Robert. Instead, it was by someone else, Jack assumed whoever was talking, was most likely the TDC technician.

He had an almost stereotypical New Orleans accent, his voice conveyed emotion while keeping it quiet, something most people couldn't do. While he didn't know the names of everyone on the submarine yet, he assumed that the TDC technician was likely an E-4. Aboard the sub, those who weren't officers or at least E-7s were most likely E-4s. They were the muscle aboard the Pearl and in the small crew, they each played an integral role.

He had a timer set for forty seconds, the estimated time till the fish impacted the German U-boat, simulating a live torpedo and 'sending' it to the bottom of the ocean. Everything had gone well so far, Jack hoped on the Virgin Mary that nothing would happen.

His biggest worry right now was being discovered, the U-boat had one aft torpedo tube, and if they were somehow detected, then it was inevitable that there were more U-boats in the area.

Thirty seconds...he could hear a few people counting down the seconds in a slight whisper, the chief navigator and pilot among them. It felt like time was slowing down the closer they got to impact, the noise of the water flowing past the submarine, the background of the propeller shafts turning, he doubted there was a single noise out there they didn't hear.

Twenty seconds...even the blood-red lighting felt like it was interrupted by the sound of someone loudly slurping coffee. Jack could feel the anger rising higher than the Burj Khalifa, the blood boiling hotter than the sun as he turned around to find the cock sucker that was making the horrid noise.

Somehow, Lord knows, the IDC son-of-a-bitch had managed to sneak past everyone down the conn, coffee in hand. He saw Jack's face, among the others all seething at him and smirked, he knew that as long as he wasn't doing something mission detrimental, then he was fine. It wasn't like Jack could punish him, he could only chew him out as he filled a vital position that couldn't be easily replaced. It wasn't like Jack was planning on surfacing the submarine during the wargame, transmitting their location by radio, and asking for a replacement.

Somebody would have to die before he did anything so brash like that, he didn't give a shit what disease they caught. As long as nobody died, they were continuing what would hopefully become their killing spree.

Joining in with the rest of the submariners in the conn, he gave the doctor a marvelous middle finger. His problem, David gave as many fucks as Batman on Robot Chicken, meaning absolute zero.

Jack looked down at the timer on his iPad, ten seconds until impact. Chances are that the crew of the U-boat knew that there was a torpedo on them if the active sonar pings hadn't given it away then the Germans were dumbasses.

Everyone held their breath, mentally counting down the dreaded seconds. It felt like they were in tunnel vision, all the sounds just blanked out as they waited. Jack felt a tingle working its way up his spine, slowly moving up to his head, each individual vertebrae shivering in response.

His nervous system was put into overload in suspense. All at once he felt like he could hear every sound and nothing at the same time. It was as if time just stopped, seconds turned into hours as he waited.

The ping was so loud that even the crew could hear a faint signal bouncing off the steel hull. It was as if the entire submarine just jumped for a second, the sound of thirty-five sneakers all bouncing off the floor rippled throughout the compartment.

Even Jack jumped, pumping his fist into the air. All the work over the last few hours the suspense of the war game had been building up to a point, each and every mind waiting for that omnidirectional ping. A few seconds later, that same ping hit the submarine again, it would continue to do so until the submarine surfaced. Afterward, it'd weaken until docking at the Yokosuka Naval Base.

"Conn, sonar: lost contact! Sierra 1 last bearing two-one-zero, omnidirectional pinger activated...we got her!" The crew only cheered louder at this, their first kill, a U-Boat who they'd snuck up on, was now at the 'bottom' of the sea.

"No Shit Sherlock!" He looked over to see David shouting up the ladder that led to the Sonar room, a massive smile on his face. For all the shit he gave their sonar technician, he enjoyed having Sonar, he was an integral part of the crew in his mind.

Jack walked over to his captain's chair before jumping up on it, putting his hands in the air like a conductor. He wasn't going to have anyone sing though, they still had a job to do, and everyone needed to quiet down.

"Everyone back to your jobs dammit, we still have a war to fight!" Everyone acknowledged their Captain, a chorus of awws later and they went back to their stations, the electricians, navigators, and various ratings got back to work. He could still hear a few cheers from across the submarine, of course, not everyone would here his orders. Walking over to the 1MC on the wall, he picked up the small handheld radio, pressing down the button and spoke.

"All hands, quiet down now...confine your celebrations to whispers and fist bumps, we're not out of the shit yet. Alpha rotation is on break first, be ready for combat any time though, over."

The blood-red lights on the submarine switched back to their bright glow. The air conditioner booted back up, Jack shivering at the rush of new cold air.

Various crew members started making their way up the ladder or through the various passageways. Jack and Robert both were in alpha rotation, but they wouldn't leave the conn until Jack felt everything was going fine.

"Ellis, Halsey, Thompson over here pronto!" Jack could see a few heads pop up over the mass of bodies leaving the room. Within a few seconds, the two officers and senior enlisted were by his side, looking into his brown colored eyes with expectation.

"We need to get out of here...I have a feeling that somebody's going to investigate the area in force. Ideas?" The submariners thought long and hard for a few seconds, trying to come up with plans ASAP. The COB was the first to speak his mind, trying to formulate his hastily thought up plan into words.

"Before I start, Captain...can we walk over to the nav table, I'm going to need a few charts to make this really pop out," Jack replied with a low grunt as they made their way to the little nav room. "We should try to gun it towards the Bonin islands right under the layer, we should be able to make it by midnight or so." David looked up with a smile on his face, his fingers pointing towards the small island chain.

"Can I get a reason behind this?" Robert looked at the COB with a questioning gaze, trying to decipher the meaning behind his plan. It'd take time to get to the Bonin Islands, and at high speeds, they'd be producing a lot of noise, even under the thermocline layer.

"There's a bunch of deepwater around those islands, the Japanese can mask any radar returns off of islands while not having to worry about running a ship aground."

"Why are you so confident that it'll be the Japanese, what if we run into the German's?" For once David didn't have a rebuttal, he seemed to open his mouth like a fish as he tried to come up with words.

"Then what's your plan Robert...surely the best XO in the USHSF ought to be able to come up with something?" David looked at the XO with a little bit of fire in his eyes, obviously annoyed about his quick questions.

"I say we should just dive deep and wait for somebody to come to stick their nose into one of the U-boats 'sinking'. We wait until they're in the optimal position, right in front of us, and then we strike like a cobra." Jack raised his eyebrow as he looked at the two heads of the submarine arguing. Both of them promptly shut up when he spoke.

"What does the chief nav think about this shit?"

"Honestly skipper, I don't want to wait around here much longer, so I agree with leaving the area, but I agree with the Lieutenant on setting a trap. Looking at the nav chart, I'm not sure as to where we need to position ourselves to have the highest chance of success since most of the area around there is 5,000 feet deep, we won't really be able to use anything as cover."

"Good, you missed one crucial thing though," Jack looked over the chart, his mind deciphering the information he saw and formulating a deadly plan. "We'll be going to the Bonin islands and stopping around 2 nautical miles off the island of Ototojima. If we patrol bearing two-one-zero, then we should be in about 800 feet of water, we can mask our active signature trace with the bottom."

Robert looked over at his Captain and wondered where he was going with this plan. "How do you plan on engaging any targets? What if no one is there?"

"I want us to dive to the surface and try to get a few radar returns if nothing comes up then we'll go mad with active pinging. If we keep it up for a minute or two, then somebody's going to investigate, a tin can telephone could hear that clusterfuck of noise we'll be making. After that, I want us to run silent and dive to just below the layer. We'll fire off torpedoes at whoever shows up, submerge to bottom depth, and make our way towards the bottom of the island chain firing at whoever we meet along the way. I want to try and have them hunt us, we should toy with our prey and always have them guessing as to where we are!" Jack looked satisfied with his plan, a broad grin spread across his face, brown hair slightly dripping over his forehead.

"So we're going to start playing the psychological warfare game...if we can make them think we could hit them at any moment, then we're golden." David looked at the skipper with a genuine smile, enjoying his Captain coming up with a master plan.

"Exactly, we should press the attack as often as possible! I don't care what time it is, if we can continuously attack during the day and night, then we'll wear down their crews." Robert joined in in the conversation, adding what he thought of on the spot.

"Skipper, do you want me to start plotting a course?" Jack looked at the nav and gave him an all-knowing smile before popping his collarbone.

"You know it! I'll take the rotation with Robert and go on break, hit me up when you're done. David, you have the conn!" With a transaction of respectful nods, the submariners scurried off to their various duties. Jack and Robert both went up the ladder towards their individual staterooms. They were right next to each other and, from what they'd done so far, usually went down to eat at the same times.

"So Robert...what do you think of the plan?"

"Honestly, I think that's it's rough and is relying too much on the Japanese being in the area...we don't know where anyone is and we don't have any way sort of intelligence as to enemy movement patterns. Us trying to find them is like trying to find a needle in a haystack and were blindfolded." Jack was a bit annoyed at his XO's criticism of his plan, but it was necessary if they wanted success.

"We're not blindfolded, Sonar has some scary good ears so if there's anything this side of paradise, he'll know about it. So honestly we're just slightly visually impaired.

"Respectfully, have you checked out that BQQ-2 sonar? The damn thing's as old as the dinosaurs! You're pretty much turning an electronic wheel to get a bearing on something before trying to put it through some beyond out-of-date filters and hoping you stumbled upon something better than a whale's ass." He laughed at Robert's analogy, his argument made sense and although SSN-580 was the most advanced submarine in the USHSF.

"Imagine what those poor bastards in the Gato, Balao, Tench, and those new Tang classes have to deal with! They don't have the advantage of the cold air, the recycled oxygen, or this much room. Sure our sonar is the same as there's and sucks ass, but we have so many advantages to being on one of those diesel that it cancels out the problems!"

"Good point Captain...it's just, compared to a lot of the stuff they taught us about the Navy's nuclear submarines, the 688s, 774s, and those magical 21s, these older subs are just horrible. I see why they'd want us to train on them obviously, but the switch in technology when we get in the actual navy just seems like it'll be such a shock!" The XO raised a good point, of course, all they could do was talk about it. There was no possible way to change the system, and they both knew things happened for a reason. Before the conversation could continue, they both arrived at their small staterooms, wooden doors plastered with a black plaque containing their name and rank.

"See you for dinner Captain?" Jack replied with a grunt and smile, along with the XO's salute, they retired to their quarters. They'd both had a tiring day, and this would most likely be the last fleeting moments of sleep they'd get in the day before another chance at combat.

Closing the door, he got a good look at his room, the model and engineering posters on the wall, folded uniforms in the small closet along with a few personal items. As he walked to the closet to undo his new IFRV uniform, he heard the faintest voice coming from his hat, someone over the headset was trying to reach him.

Rubbing his ghost white face and brown hair, he yawned before reaching over to grab the headset.

"Skipper...you there sir?" He could just recognize the voice as his chief navigator, the junior officer he had told to inform him of his new plot.

"Yea, just about to crash dive too dammit! You got that course all plotted out?"

"We should come right, bearing two-one-zero at fifteen knots. The layer is decent, it's really shallow, so if we go at around 150 feet, then we should be fine. We shouldn't be cavitating, and the passive sonar should be able to hear what's happening outside the hull. Our earlier predictions were wrong about how long it would take us, we'll probably get there by five in the morning, so everyone's going to be tired. Is that course ok with you?" Again, Jack popped his collarbone, as he rubbed his eyes and spoke into the small microphone.

"Sure...just make sure we don't get jumped by a German wolfpack or hit an underwater mountain."

"Wilco Skipper! I'll tell the Master chief ASAP, pe-!" Before Steven could cut off the transmission, Jack cut him off, he had a slight request that could make all the difference. "Make sure to get Sonar down there, I want David to brief him on the plan, I have a feeling the sonar shack will freak the fuck out if we end of running into a crowd of merchant ships considering there's a notable sea lane nearby."

"Got it Skipper, peace!" With the final words came sudden drowsiness, Jack's eyelids were slowly collapsing over his eyes as he hobbled over to his bed. Eager to lay down into its comforting embrace, to get some rest before what would become an eventful day and a nerve-wracking shift. As he lay there in bed, his mind went over all the memories to that point, all the thoughts, plans, and previous experiences, and how they'd all be culminating to this final event. What he hoped would go down in history as the Battle of the Bonin Islands Part 2, Electric Boogaloo! 

* * *

Hey guys! Long story short I've been extremely busy with school and have spent a lot of time being extremely sick so these chapters are long overdue! Expect a bunch of new chapters in all my stories really soon, I've tried a new writing style in this chapter so let me know how it compares to the previous ones.

As always I do not own **Haifuri**


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